Celine Dion gives birth three weeks early

Celine Dion has given birth to a boy in Florida three weeks before he was due.

The baby weighs six pounds eight ounces and he has been named Rene Charles, after her husband.

The singer's spokeswoman says both mother and child are in perfect health.

The Canadian singer announced last year that she had undergone in-vitro fertilisation after many failed attempts at conception with her husband.

In December, Dion revealed she had a second fertilized egg stored at a New York fertility clinic.

Best known for My Heart Will Go On, the theme song to the award-winning film Titanic, Dion has been nominated for a Grammy this year for All the Way, an album of duets with recordings by Frank Sinatra.

She plans to return to singing in a year.

The spokeswoman added she does not know whether the birth took place in a hospital or a private residence.