All of a sudden, it seems that pregnancy and motherhood have become fashionable; a point best illustrated by the scores of celebrity yummy mummies who remain in the media limelight.

According to the Urban Dictionary, the bible of trend slang, a yummy mummy can be defined as “an attractive, healthy, and very sexy mother. Usually a young woman or sometimes a really gorgeous and hot, middle-aged mother. Yummy mummies usually wear trendy clothes, have great hairstyles and always look fabulous.”

Keeping these drop-dead gorgeous mums in mind and the fact that it is Mother’s Day today, here Images on Sunday celebrates the hottest celebrity mums in Pakistan, India and around the world (some of the choices are purely subjective and based on the writer’s definition of hot).

Reese Witherspoon: In the limelight these days thanks to the box office hit, Water for Elephants, Reese Witherspoon has had men drooling since her Legally Blonde days when she played Elle Woods, the seemingly dumb blonde who made it to Harvard Law School. A mother of two, whom she had with her first husband, Ryan Phillipe, Reese continues to be the favourite of men and women across the globe thanks to her indisputable acting talent — and of course that million-dollar smile!

Catherine Zeta-Jones: Stunning Catherine is mum to two children: Dylan Michael Douglas and Carys Zeta Douglas with her long-time (in Hollywood terms) husband, Michael Douglas. Although recently in the news for her bi-polar disorder, Zeta-Jones is no doubt a yum mum. Needless to say that the pick-up line Michael Douglas used on her, “I’d like to father your children” got him the job.

Britney Spears: Twenty-nine-year-old pop star Britney Spears seems to have been in the news for her substance abuse problems rather than her career of late. However, the mother of two, despite rehab, recently ‘did it again’ with her seventh album, ironically titled Femme Fatale.

Mariah Carey: Soul-stirrer Mariah Carey has been topping the charts since the late ’80s with hits such as Heartbreaker, Always be my Baby and Your Girl. Last Saturday, Carey gave birth to fraternal twins — it was also Carey and husband Nick Cannon’s third wedding anniversary and the couple renewed their wedding vows.

Natalie Portman: Although not a mother yet, Natalie Portman (primarily of Black Swan fame) is expecting a child this summer, with ballet dancer Benjamin Millepied whom she met on the sets of the film. No doubt Portman will be an extreme yummy mummy.

Katherine Heigl: Best known for her roles of Isabel the alien in Roswell and Dr Isobel Evans on Grey’s Anatomy, and chick flicks such as 27 Dresses, Katherine Heigl has charmed many thanks to her all-American good looks. Although she she adopted a ‘special’ girl from Korea, we think that she must be on this list just because she’s just so darned hot, and the fact that according to many sources, she left the show to spend more time with her daughter.

Halle Berry: After becoming the first black woman to win an Oscar for her brilliant performance in Monster’s Ball (2002), Halle Berry hasn’t looked back. Since then she has been a Bond girl, Storm and Catwoman — and she had a daughter, Nahla, in 2008.

Salma Hayek: One of Salma Hayek’s best performances remains in Frida in which she played the titular character, wowing viewers and critics alike. Of late, her roles have been limited to those on TV shows including Ugly Betty and 30 Rock, perhaps due to the fact that she had a daughter, Valentina, in 2007 — looking as stunning as ever throughout, of course.

Gwyneth Paltrow: Believe it or not, stick-thin Gwyneth Paltrow has not just one but two children: a daughter called Apple (I’m not kidding) and a son called Moses. Perhaps taking the ‘conventional’ behaviour of some of the characters she played (think Emma) to heart she had both children with hubby musician Paul Martin.

Madonna: As it turns out, Madonna has four children. She has given birth to two, and she adopted the other two from Malawi. Although she is perhaps a bit over-the-hill to qualify here, we think she deserves it because she is, after all, the ultimate material girl.

Sarah Jessica Parker: Famous for playing Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City, Sarah Jessica Parker is perhaps one of the most iconic celebrities of the last decade. Despite being pregnant, she continued to wear her precious Manolo Blahniks on the show, although of course she had to give up her more revealing clothes. The mother of three children, a son she gave birth to and twin daughters she had through a surrogate, Parker continues to be the inspiration for single gals the world over.

Angelina Jolie: Perhaps a favourite yummy mummy of all time mainly due to her philanthropic work, Jolie has been in the news for her relationship with Brad Pitt, and the fact that she has six children, two of whom she adopted: son Maddox Chivan from Cambodia and daughter Pax Thien from Vietnam. Jolie gave birth to a daughter, Shiloh Nouvel in Namibia in 2006; it was the couple’s first child. Shiloh is the first child to have a statue at Madam Taussauds in New York. Jolie had twins in 2008, and such is the celebrity buzz around her that most of the children’s photos have been sold by the couple to several publications for millions of dollars.

Julia Roberts: The pretty woman who is now eating, praying and loving, Roberts has an estimated star power of $140 million — and is one of the highest paid female actors in the world. Roberts has three children with her current husband, Daniel Moder. Roberts’ fans are waiting for her new film, Larry Crowne, in July, which also features Tom Hanks.

Nicole Kidman: This red-haired Australian, an outstanding actor best illustrated by her performances in The Hours, and more recently Rabbit Hole, Kidman has two children whom she adopted with ex-husband Tom Cruise; and she has had two daughters with her current partner, Urban.

Rachel Griffiths: Another attractive actress from Australia, Rachel Griffiths is best known for her portrayals of Brenda on Six Feet Under, and Sarah Walker on Brothers & Sisters. A mother of three, the youngest of whom is barely two, Griffiths says, “Pregnancy makes me nicer.”

Victoria Beckham: Perhaps best known as soccer star David Beckham’s wife, the former Spice Girl, actor and model is a star in her own right. Posh, as she is also known, has three children with David: Brooklyn Joseph, Romeo James and Cruz David. The couple is expecting their fourth child this summer.

Sofia Vergara: A Columbian actress, Sofia Vergara is popular these days for her portrayal of Gloria Delgado-Prichett in the hit TV show, Modern Family. Vergara had a son at the age of 20 in 1992.

Heidi Klum: A Victoria’s Secret angel, Heidi Klum has four children — one is adopted and three she gave birth to. Although best known as a model, Klum has appeared on several TV shows of late, the most popular of which include Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty and How I Met Your Mother.

Cobie Smulders: Best known for her role as Robin Scherbatsky, the Canadian news anchor living in New York on the ever-popular How I Met Your Mother, Smulders had daughter Shaelyn Cado Killam in 2009 with actor Taran Killam. Amazingly, her character on the show somehow managed not to reveal any signs of pregnancy.

Jennifer Lopez: Singer, actor and record producer Jennifer Lopez, popularly known as simply J-Lo, had twins with husband Marc Anthony in 2008. Along with her daughter, Emme Maribel Muñiz, and son Maximilian “Max” David Muñ, Lopez was featured on the cover of People magazine, that same year, appearing as radiant as ever. The magazine reportedly paid the singer $6 million for the cover.

Katie Holmes: Infamous for the Kidman-Cruise split, Katie Holmes has been in the news more for her personal life than her professional one (after all it’s safe to say that her only memorable role was that of Joey Potter on the teen drama, Dawson’s Creek). A yummy mummy nevertheless, Portman and Cruise had their first child, daughter Suri, in 2006.