Nicole Kidman celebrates daughter's birth

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Oscar-winner Nicole Kidman gave birth on Monday to her first biological child, a daughter named Sunday fathered by her husband and country music star Keith Urban.

"Earlier this morning, Nic gave birth to our beautiful baby girl, Sunday Rose Kidman Urban," the New Zealand-born, Australian-bred Grammy winner announced on his Web site.

"We want to thank everybody that has kept us in their thoughts and prayers. We feel very blessed and grateful that we can share this joy with you today," Urban said.

A statement issued later in the day by Kidman's New York-based publicist said the infant was delivered in the United States and weighed 6 pounds, 7 1/2 ounces (2.93 kg) at birth.

"Husband Keith was by Nicole's side, and mother and baby are very well," the spokesman, Allen Eichhorn, said.

Kidman, 41, who was born in Hawaii but raised in Australia, married Urban, 40, in Sydney in June 2006. The following October he checked into the Betty Ford Clinic for a three-month stint in rehab for substance abuse.

The actress announced she was pregnant with their first child in January 2008 and was withdrawing from what would have been her latest film, "The Reader."

Kidman and former spouse Tom Cruise adopted two children during nearly 10 years of marriage that ended in divorce in 2001. She had been pregnant once before with Cruise but suffered a miscarriage.

Kidman and Urban, both Australian citizens, met in January 2005 at an awards dinner held by the Australian government in Los Angeles honouring the two of them.