Pregnant Shakira To Host Second World Baby Shower

Singer Shakira and her footballer boyfriend Gerard Pique, who are expecting their second child, are hosting a World Baby Shower for the second time to benefit the UN Children's Fund (Unicef).

The couple is expanding on the idea they had when expecting their son Milan, who turns two Thursday, and creating a shareable event for expectant mothers in a bid to benefit Unicef and vulnerable children around the world.

"Now that we are soon welcoming our second child we want to help other children around the world and also contribute to a long-lasting solution for getting children living in extreme poverty the supplies they need to survive," Shakira said in a statement.

"We also want other parents to feel compelled to do the same. With the explosion of social media, celebrities aren't the only ones who have platforms that can reach mass audiences, and we want this movement to keep going long after our baby shower has ended, so we want to invite them to host their own baby showers with Unicef as well," she added.

Fans can visit a site and donate directly via a link on Shakira's Facebook page, in which she appealed for fans to help "save the lives" of hundreds of thousands of youngsters.

She wrote: "Every woman who's expecting has the power to use the blessing of her child's imminent birth to save the lives of other, less fortunate children around the world. If every expectant mother having a baby shower decided to include among her gift registry some of these inspired gifts that Unicef offers, we could collectively save the lives of hundreds of thousands of children all over the globe."

Through the "Hips don't lie" singer's Twitter page, fans can also buy a special 'Thank You' card from the couple and every one card sold will unlock more funds for measles vaccines for children.

The couple's first World Baby Shower, which was held from Jan 16, 2013 to Feb 15, 2013, helped vaccinate 80,000 children against polio, have four tonnes of food delivered to children suffering from malnutrition and 1,000 anti-malaria nets and 200,000 rehydration powders were distributed to those in need.