Madonna Denies Pregnancy Rumour

A spokeswoman for Madonna today denied reports that the pop star and husband Guy Ritchie are expecting another child.

Celebrity gossip magazine Heat claimed Madonna was three months pregnant when she visited a birth specialist in London at the end of last year. However her UK spokeswoman, Barbara Charone, today said simply, "It's not true."

Madonna, 44, has a six-year-old daughter, Lourdes, by Carlos Leon, and a two-year-old son, Rocco, with Mr Ritchie.

Heat said her pregnancy was the reason the couple had moved to Los Angeles.

A unnamed source told the magazine that the star was looking into self-hypnosis for the labour.

"It makes for a pain-free birth and involves no drugs. Her main priority is the baby's health and she wants everything to be as natural as possible," the source said.

The magazine added that Madonna has asked the doctor at Viveka - the associate clinic of the Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth, where Kate Moss and Sadie Frost gave birth - to visit her at home for future consultations to keep the pregnancy secret.

Conservative councillor Shireen Ritchie, the film director's mother, said she could not confirm or deny rumours that the star was pregnant. "We know nothing about it. All we know is there's been a lot of speculation in the press," she told PA News.

Heat said Madonna's official spokesperson Liz Rosenberg always denied pregnancy rumours. She said the family would move back to London in five months time.