Robert De Niro’s girlfriend Tiffany Chen opened up about suffering from Bell’s palsy as a result of a pregnancy complication, after welcoming their daughter Gia Virginia Chen De Niro in April. Tiffany, 45, admitted that her face began feeling “weird” shortly after giving birth in an interview with CBS Mornings on Thursday, July 13. She said she went to the hospital after a week of symptoms.
Tiffany said she noticed something was off, when she began experiencing numbness and tingling sensations on her tongue, but the symptoms worsened. “My face just felt weird. I didn’t know what the feeling was that I was having,” she said. “I was trying to eat. I went to put just a fork of food in my mouth, and everything came out. I couldn’t eat. And then I was starting to slur.”
As she arrived at the hospital, Tiffany revealed that her symptoms got much worse. “I lost all facial function the minute I got into the hospital,” she said.
While the cause of Bell’s palsy isn’t known, it is believed swelling of nerves is the likely cause, according to the Mayo Clinic. While the causes of the condition aren’t known, pregnant women are more at risk to experience Bell’s palsy than non-pregnant women, according to the Birth Injury Help Center. Some symptoms include one of the face becoming paralyzed, drooling, loss of taste, and more.
Tiffany gave birth to her daughter with Robert in secret in April, and the 79-year-old actor revealed that he became a dad for the seventh time in an interview. The Goodfellas star admitted that he was looking forward to being a new dad again in his first interview after spilling the beans with Access Hollywood. “Sometimes, I don’t think people really know what being a good father is,” he said. “Well, you know you have a responsibility but look, it’s a mystery, it’s a lot of excitement, but it’s scary and you do your best.”