RUTHIE Henshall, Suffolk star of many hit West End musicals, gave birth to a daughter at Ipswich Hospital yesterday morning . Tim Howar, her partner and also her co-star in her last London show, Peggy Sue Got Married, was with her and said they were thrilled that everything had gone so well.

RUTHIE Henshall, Suffolk star of many hit West End musicals, gave birth to a daughter at Ipswich Hospital yesterday morning .

Tim Howar, her partner and also her co-star in her last London show, Peggy Sue Got Married, was with her and said they were thrilled that everything had gone so well.

He said: "The baby was a week or two early and weighed in at 5lb 11oz but is perfectly beautiful, in good voice and encouragingly hungry. Ruthie had quite a long labour but she was terrific and so were the staff."

The baby has not yet been firmly named as the couple are torn between Lily and Amalia - the name of the girl Ruthie played in She Loves Me, the role that won her an Olivier Award.

Ruthie, who has just moved into a cottage on the Suffolk-Essex border, said last night with a laugh, "We keep looking at her but can't quite make up our minds which she is. Then again, she may still end up as something else entirely."

She said she chose Ipswich Hospital because she was present at the birth of her sister Susan's baby there and been very impressed by the staff. "Also because Susan is a nurse here."

Her father David said he and his wife Gloria were delighted with their second grandchild.

"But," he added ruefully, "it does mean that with a wife, four daughters and two granddaughters, I am now outnumbered seven to one."