Britney Spears has lost her baby

In a statement on social media, Britney and her partner wrote: "It is with our deepest sadness we have to announce that we have lost our miracle baby early in the pregnancy. This is a devastating time for any parent. Perhaps we should have waited to announce until we were further along however we were overly excited to share the good news."

The pair - who are engaged - still plan to have a child in the future, but have asked for privacy at this difficult time.

They continued: "Our love for each is our strength. We will continue trying to expand our beautiful family. We are grateful for your support.

We kindly ask for privacy at this difficult moment."

Thanking their fans for their support, Britney and Sam concluded: "We are grateful for what we have in the process of expanding our beautiful family. Thank you for your support."

The 'Toxic' hitmaker - who last year was freed from a conservatorship that gave her father Jamie Spears control over her financial, healthcare and professional decisions - shared that she was expecting a new addition to her family in April, but admitted she first thought she was just "food pregnant".

Britney - who part of the controversial legal arrangement had a contraceptive device fitted - wrote on Instagram at the time: " So I got a pregnancy test ... and uhhhhh well ... I am having a baby [baby emoji] ... 4 days later I got a little more food pregnant [pregnant woman emoji] [three monkey covering eyes emoji] It's growing !!! If 2 are in there ... I might just loose it [six anxious face emoji]... I obviously won't be going out as much due to the paps getting their money [cash emoji] shot of me [camera emoji] like they unfortunately already have ..."

Britney - who already has two sons Sean Preston, 16, and Jayden, 15, with her ex Kevin Federline - admitted that she experienced mental health issues during her previous pregnancies when depression was more taboo and hardly spoken about by women.

She said: "it's hard because when I was pregnant I had perinatal depression ... I have to say it is absolutely horrible [sad emoji] ... women didn't talk about it back then ... some people considered it dangerous if a woman complained like that with a baby inside her ... but now women talk about it everyday ... thank Jesus we don't have to keep that pain a reserved proper secret [shh emoji] [three anxious face emoji] ... This time I will be doing yoga [yoga emoji] every day !!! Spreading lots of joy and love [two pink hearts emoji] !!! (sic)"