Helena's baby boy joy

Helena Bonham Carter has given birth to her first child at a north London hospital.

The actress had a healthy, 7lb boy on Saturday morning with her film director partner, Tim Burton, at her bedside.

The couple - who are unmarried and live in separate houses with a connecting corridor - are still deciding on the baby's name.

Bonham Carter's agent, Nicky Van Gelder, said: "Helena has given birth to a baby boy. Both mother and child are very well and healthy. Helen is absolutely over the moon and so is Tim."

Helena met Tim two-and-a-half years ago when they were shooting Planet Of The Apes. At the time the actress, 37, was accused of "stealing" 41-year-old Burton from the starlet Lisa Marie.

Bonham Carter last week spoke about being a mother: "You get obsessed by all the paraphernalia of babies. There are so many buggies it's as difficult as buying a car - enough to give you a nervous breakdown. I don't know if we'll marry. I find it romantic bearing his illegitimate child and living next door."

She and Burton have a connecting hallway between their north London houses: "You go left into his part and right into mine. I'll have the kitchen and he'll have the baby's room."