When Andrea McLean returned to work last month after her maternity leave, there was one indignity she was relieved she no longer had to suffer. “By the end of my pregnancy I’d put on four stone and was as big as a bus,” she remembers. “It got to the point where there was only one pair of trousers that fitted. I would wear them and wear them, then wash and dry them and wear them again, so that in the end they just chaffed away. They were awful.”

Now the svelte and glamorous GMTV weathergirl can put the offending trousers behind her, enjoy the indulgence of wearing different outfits and, more importantly, celebrate her new role as mother. Finlay John was born five months ago to Andrea and her TV producer husband Nick Green and has, she says, “made me realise this is what it’s all about ”.

This was no doubt brought more sharply into focus by the fact that Finlay’s arrival into the world wasn’t an easy one. After a gruelling 17-hour labour, Andrea had to undergo an emergency Caesarean when doctors feared for the baby ’s life. Now, with the trauma behind her, Andrea is settling down into the rhythm of being a working mother. Check out the full story in this week's issue of HELLO!