Celebrity Stats

Halle Berry feels less pressure to make an effort for the red carpet now she is pregnant.

The Oscar-winning actress - who is seven months pregnant with her first child - was presented with the Desert Palm Achievement Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival on Saturday night (05.01.08) and revealed it is "liberating" not having to worry about her figure.

Halle confessed to People magazine: "It is true that I am three times the girl I usually am. I have to say there are some really wonderful things that come along with that. This is the first red carpet that I've really walked down where I didn't have to think about holding in my stomach - because I can't.

"It's the first time I've been to an awards show where they served a meal and I actually ate it - the whole thing. I was eating off everybody else's plate and that felt very liberating and good."

The 'Things We Lost in the Fire' star is delighted to be expecting a baby with her boyfriend Gabriel Aubry.

Before she fell pregnant, Halle frequently spoke of her desperation to have a baby, and vowed to get pregnant before she turned 40.

She told US chat show host Oprah Winfrey: "If there's no serious man in my life when I get to that age, whoever I'm dating at the time, I'll say, 'Hey, would you like to have a baby?' "

Halle even contemplated artificial insemination before she started dating Gabriel, 32.

She said last year: "It looks like the only option I have left is to head for the sperm bank! I've been so desperately unlucky in love and that has thwarted my desire for motherhood. It's so frustrating. I really yearn for a child and I can't wait much longer."

And after finding love with the male model - who she met while they shot a Versace advert together in Los Angeles in November 2005 - she said: "Having children is my next big project. I'm planning on becoming pregnant by the end of the year - it's my age, it's only natural.

"If it can't happen naturally, Gabriel and I will adopt."