"Sweet Home Alabama" actor Josh Lucas says the "Ugly Betty" producer - who gave birth to a baby girl, Valentina, last week - will have no trouble adjusting to motherhood because of the practice she has had with her pets.

He said: "She will be a doting and loving mother. The way she is with her dogs, I can't even imagine what she'll be like with her kid."

Josh, who split from Salma in 2004 after dating for a year, is thrilled for his ex-girlfriend and learned the happy news after Salma texted him.

He added to People magazine: "I got a text from her the other night, saying, '7lbs 7oz and everyone is healthy and happy.'"

"For someone you care about and love as much as I love her, I was just so happy for her."

Salma and her businessman fiance François Henri Pinault welcomed daughter Valentina Paloma Pinault into the world on Friday (Sept 21, 2007).

Salma's publicist Cari Ross said: "Mother and daughter are doing well."

No other information about the birth has been released.

Valentina is Salma's first child, while Pinault has two children from a previous marriage that ended in 2004.

Salma, 41, was secretly dating the wealthy Frenchman - who is the chief executive of PPR, the company that owns Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent and a series of other French retail chains - before she announced her engagement and confirmed she was expecting his baby in March.