Blake Lively has announced she is pregnant with her first child with her husband Ryan Reynolds.

The actress posted a picture of herself with a clear baby bump on her lifestyle site Preserve today. The couple have been married since the end of 2012, and Blake hinted that she was keen to start a family with the Canadian actor in an interview with Vogue this summer.

Blake, 27, said "he's going to be a great father and leader and patriarch."

Her site, Preserve, which launched this summer, is currently running a series around family, and mothers and Blake chose to reveal her pregnancy at the end of that post.

The article read "With family on our mind, we looked to the origin of it all—to the women in our lives who are right there, at that special moment; at the creation of family. 

"Today we celebrate them. With food to fill their tummies (as if that needs more filling), presents to soothe their tired (and swollen) soles, toys to warm their baby’s souls, projects to provoke them, and decorations to inspire creativity and merriment in all.

'We had too much fun with this. Because there’s so much to share, we break up our first ever Preserve Celebration into multiple parts. In the upcoming days we will bring even more treats and fun. The entire next month will be sprinkled with highlights for women in this exciting chapter of their lives.

"Congratulations to all the expecting mothers out there. And thank you for being a part of our Preserve family."