French pop star, 66, delivers own first baby

by Maryam Mirza Sat Sep 10, 2011 8:55 am

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PARIS: A French pop star at age 66 delivered his first child unaided when his 27-year-old partner went into labour at their US home in the middle of the night, he said on French radio Monday.

Michel Polnareff, a singer noted for his striking curly mop of blond hair and big white sunglasses, stepped in as emergency midwife for Danyellah, the mother of his first child, at their home in Los Angeles on December 28.

"I found myself in the position of having to deliver my son. I had no choice. The midwife was late," he told radio station Europe 1. The couple had planned for the child to be born at home.

"I didn't panic for a moment. I wasn't at all worried," he added.

"One thing I knew was that the baby's neck is very fragile and I absolutely had to support the head. I rushed to put my hand under his head. It was such a beautiful and unexpected moment."

Polnareff first came to fame with the hit song "Le Poupee Qui Fait Non" ("The Doll Who Says No") in 1966 and saw success outside France, moving to the United States in 1973.

He said the baby had not yet been named.