Pregnant Carla Bruni: I can't wait (to have a smoke)

Like many heavily pregnant mothers to be, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy says she is desperate to give birth.

But the French First Lady has confessed that her urgency is not driven simply by the desire to see her bundle of joy in the flesh.

She is also desperate to start drinking and smoking again.

Bruni-Sarkozy, 43, admitted that, after nearly eight months of carrying her first child with President Nicolas Sarkozy, she is "totally fed up".

She said yesterday: "Quite frankly, I can't stand it any more. I spend most of my time either sitting down or lying down. I can't drink or smoke any more. I'm in a hurry to get it over with."

The baby - due in six weeks - will be Bruni-Sarkozy's second child. She has a son, Aurelien, born in 2001, with ex-boyfriend Raphael Enthoven.

"The baby will be viable at any time from October 1," the former model told French newspaper Le Parisien.

"Aurelien arrived on time, which means this could be a long wait, but I really do want this child so much."

Friends of Bruni-Sarkozy told the paper that because she was having a baby after the age of 40, her doctors had urged lots of "rest and clean-living".

The French First Lady has also insisted she would not release photos of the new baby, saying it's "a totally private event".

However, France's Marianne news magazine suggested the birth was ideally timed for Sarkozy's re-election campaign next year, describing the baby as the "perfect marketing tool" for the 55-year-old president.

- DAILY MAIL