Nicki Minaj welcomes first child with husband Kenneth Petty

Nicki Minaj has become a mum for the first time after welcoming a baby earlier this week, with her husband, Kenneth Petty.

According to TMZ, the Anaconda rapper gave birth to their first child together on Wednesday in LA, but the baby's name and gender are not yet known.

Ever the shy and retiring type, Nicki announced her pregnancy in August when she shared a selection of OTT pictures of her blossoming baby bump, taken by renowned photographer David LaChapelle.

Taking to Instagram, Nicki wore a vibrant, floral bikini, stripper heels and a bright yellow wig as she cradled her baby bump, and simply captioned it, 'Preggers.'

Alongside another snap, she wrote, 'Love. Marriage. Baby carriage. Overflowing with excitement & gratitude. Thank you all for the well wishes.'

At the time, lots of Nicki’s celebrity friends quickly took to the comment section to send their love to her and the father of her unborn baby.

‘Congratulations beautiful, wrote singer Sam Smith, while actress Halle Berry chipped in to add, ‘YES Congratulations beauty!!!!♥️♥️♥️♥️.’

Nicki and Kenneth got married last year - less than a year after getting together - and she announced the news by telling the world she'd changed her name, showing a pair of Mr and Mrs mugs on her Instagram account.

The iconic R&B musician also shared plans for her and Kenneth to celebrate with a larger wedding later down the line, saying “I have to work on my album and I have a lot to focus on that I don’t want to do the big wedding now. We’ll do the big wedding later.”

She previously said in an interview that the "end goal" of her relationship was to get pregnant, and she recently said in a now-deleted tweet that she was planning to retire to start a family.

She said, "I've decided to retire & have my family. I know you guys are happy now.

"To my fans, keep reppin me, do it till da death of me … Love you for LIFE."