Woman gives birth at age 54

A 54-YEAR-OLD Italian woman who amazed doctors by falling pregnant naturally has given birth to a healthy baby girl.

Giovanni Ciardi gave birth to Adria and yesterday mother and baby were doing well at Versilia hospital in north-west Italy.

Giovanni Paolo Cima, the head of the gynaecology and obstetrics department at the hospital, said: "A natural pregnancy at the age of 54 is exceptional."

The oldest woman known to have given birth after falling pregnant naturally was Dawn Brooke, 59, from Guernsey, who had a son in 1997.