Actress and model Brigitte Nielsen, who starred in films including Rocky IV and Beverly Hills Cop II, has announced that she’s expecting her fifth child - at the age of 54.
Nielsen released photos on Instagram to accompany the announcement that shows the expectant mother cradling her baby bump.
While she has received a rush of congratulations from many of her 103,000 followers on the social media platform, others have expressed their disapproval over Nielsen having a baby in her 50s.
One individual described her as “selfish”, while another wrote that having a baby at her age was "cruel".
However, the majority of comments have been very supportive of the Danish actress.
“Beautiful! This baby will be so loved! Ah, these negative comments. Some know nothing but hate. Really,” one person said.
Another wrote that her own mother had given birth to her at 53 years old, describing Nielsen’s news as “a wonderful thing.”
“You give inspiration for me and my husband to be able to have a child at my age of 45. Because we want our family to grow,” one woman commented.
“Lots of love and a beautiful safe delivery.”
Nielsen has four sons, the first of which was born in 1984 with her first husband Kasper Winding.
She had her second son with her former fiancé Mark Gastineau in 1989 and had two sons with her fourth husband Raoul Meyer in 1993 and 1995.
According to the Royal Berkshire Hospital, an expectant mother is twice as likely to undergo a caesarean when giving birth if over the age of 40.
The average age of mothers giving birth in England and Wales increased marginally from 30.3 years old to 30.4 years old from 2015 to 2016, as stated by the Office for National Statistics.
There’s been a recent discussion online about the use of the term “c-section”, with some mothers preferring for it to be referred to as a “belly birth”.
