Ben Foden reveals wife Jackie Belanoff Smith has gone into labour with their first child

Ben Foden took to Instagram to reveal that his wife Jackie Belanoff Smith was in labour on Wednesday, as he jokingly mulled the idea of broadcasting the birth live.

The 34-year-old rugby ace took to his Instagram account a few minutes before 1am to share footage of his wife on a hospital bed as she donned a mask and was hooked up to an intravenous drip.

Donning a mask himself, the hunky sportsman served as cameraman, captioning the footage: ‘What do people think to a Instagram live stream during a pandemic.’ [sic]

Seemingly keen to keep things lighthearted, he added Salt-N-Pepa’s chart-topping 1988 hit Push It as the soundtrack to the proceedings.  

Not to be outdone, Jackie shared footage of herself from her hospital bed, panning the lens from her own face to that of her husband’s as Young Joc’s 2006 rap hit It’s Goin’ Down served as her backing track of choice.

She also gave her attending medic an opportunity to wave at the camera as she gave the mother-to-be a coronavirus swab ahead of welcoming her child into the world.

Handsome sports star Ben married American entrepreneur Jackie in August just two weeks after they started dating. 

In February, MailOnline exclusively revealed that Ben is expecting a child with Jackie, 19 months after his divorce from Una Healy.

Friends of the Celebrity X Factor star said he is ‘absolutely delighted’ at becoming a father for the third time.

He already shares two children Aoife, seven, and five-year-old Tadhg, with The Saturdays singer, Una, 38.

‘Ben and Jackie are over the moon,’ a source told MailOnline.

‘They’re so excited to become parents together for the first time and are looking forward to starting their new lives as a family. 

‘The plan is to move from America back to the UK and raise the baby here – there’s lots to organise but they can’t wait for their new arrival.’ 

Ex-England rugby international Ben first married The Saturdays singer Una in her native Ireland in 2012, after the pair dated for four years.

The couple divorced in July 2018 after six years of marriage when Ben confessed to cheating on Una with publicist Becky Milne. 

Ben married Jackie on board a luxury yacht in Nantucket, Massachusetts in August despite the pair only knowing each other for a few weeks. 

Ben revealed to MailOnline last year that he plans to move back to the UK with Jackie and buy a house together in Cheshire.

The former England full-back is supposed to be taking part in his second and final season of Major League Rugby on behalf of New York at the moment.

Instead, he and his wife spent the past several weeks isolating in quieter surroundings in nearby Connecticut, after feeling their Manhattan home.

Their unplanned move has afforded Foden time to decide whether to commit to one more campaign next year, or accept that his playing days ended abruptly, with a defeat away to San Diego on March 8.

‘I signed a two-year deal and this was my second year, but I have a visa for three years and I’m married to an American now, so I’ll be getting a Green Card,’ he told Sportsmail last month.

‘I haven’t decided yet whether I want to carry on playing. Obviously, this isn’t the way that I’d want my career to end, but in my head I thought this would be my last year, in terms of knuckling down and being a player.

‘I’m going to be 35 in the summer and maybe it is time to get out. I came here to do two years and I wanted to help get New York on the rugby map, maybe win a championship with them and go out on a high, but obviously that can’t happen now.

‘Time isn’t on my side. I’ve played this game for a long time and I love it, but my days are numbered. I’ve got to have a chat with the owners and the coaches, to see if they want me to play next season, then I’ve got to speak to my wife about it, because I really did approach this as my last year.’