Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes have baby, so does Brooke Shields

Apr 19, 2006, 11:33 GMT

File picture dated 21 June 2005 of US actor Tom Cruise (L) and his fiancee Katie Holmes upon their arrival to the Spanish premiere of the film \'The War of the Worlds\' in Madrid. Actress Katie Holmes gave birth on Tuesday 18 April 2006 to the couple\'s first child, a girl they named Suri, their spokesman said. EPA/BERNARDO RODRIGUEZ

Los Angeles (Dpa) - Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes welcomed their first child together Tuesday, a baby girl they named Suri, according to a statement from their publicist.

The couple 'joyously welcomed the arrival of a baby girl, Suri, today,' the actor's rep said. The baby weighed 3.4 kilograms the statement said, and her name meant 'princess' in Hebrew and 'red rose' in Persian.

The baby comes about a year after the two became a hot item in the Hollywood gossip columns which breathlessly covered every move of the celebrity lovers. The latest angle was the 'silent birth' that Holmes, 26, was scheduled to practice in according with the teachings of Scientology, to which Cruise, 43, is a long time adherent. Cruise recently revealed that the couple plan to wed later this summer.

The baby was a first for Holmes while Cruise has two children from his previous marriage to Nicole Kidman, both of whom were adopted as infants.

Also Tuesday actress Brooke Shields, who last year was involved in a public spat with Cruise about postpartum depression, had a second baby girl, Grier Hammond Henchy, who weighed 3.2 kilograms, according to a spokeswoman.

It was a second daughter for Shields, 40, and husband Chris Henchy, a 42-year-old television writer and producer, whose other daughter, Rowan, turns 3 next month.

Cruise publicly attacked Shields after she revealed that she had taken medication to overcome post-partum depression following the birth of Rowan. Cruise said that he believed that there was no such thing as chemical imbalances that need to be corrected with drugs, and that depression could be treated with exercise and vitamins.