Hilary Duff announces birth of fourth child and shares unusual name

Actress Hilary Duff has announced the arrival of her fourth child, a daughter named Townes Meadow Bair.

The newborn is her third child with husband Matthew Koma. The couple are already parents to Mae James, two, and Banks Violet, five.

Duff, 36, also shares son Luca, 11, with her ex-husband Mike Comrie.

The Lizzie McGuire star revealed the baby was born on May 3 as she shared a series of black and white photos of the water birth on Instagram, writing: “Townes Meadow Bair, now we know why she made us wait so long… She was perfecting those Cheeks!

“I have been dreaming of holding you in my arms for months and the past 5 days of getting to know you, stare at you and smell you has been pure moments of magic.

“We all love you like you’ve been here all along beauty.”

Duff previously admitted that “4 kids is a truly wild choice”, in an Instagram tribute to Koma.

She wrote: “While you rage the farmers market with the kids after 4 nights of shows and late nights so I can get some sleep and not hear mom mom mama mommy mooooom just know this only works because of you.

“Also on a separate note… Why can I sleep during the day this late in pregnancy and not at night.”

Duff also bemoaned how long her pregnancy had lasted, sharing photos from an acupuncture session and saying she was “gently trying to give baby the eviction notice”.

The actress is best known for playing the title role in US comedy series Lizzie McGuire and the spin-off movie, as well as the film A Cinderella Story.

Recently she has starred in the TV series Younger and How I Met Your Father, a spin-off of the hit series How I Met Your Mother.