Tiffany Chen says she 'lost all facial function' after birth of baby with Robert De Niro

Tiffany Chen is opening up about her experience with postpartum Bell's palsy following the birth of daughter Gia Virginia in April, whom she shares with actor Robert De Niro.

Chen revealed to Gayle King in an interview clip on "CBS Mornings" Thursday that after returning home from the hospital, she started to notice that her tongue felt strange and "my face just felt weird."

"When I got home it was like everything was just starting to fall down on itself, like my face was melting," she said.

About a week after she gave birth, she called her doctor after realizing she couldn't eat and was starting to slur.

"I lost all facial function the minute I got into the hospital," she said.

What she was experiencing was Bell's palsy, a neurological disorder that can cause weakness or paralysis suddenly in one's face.

Pregnancy raises the prevalence of Bell's palsy by two to four fold, Sarah Cross, MD, Yale Medicine OBGYN and maternal fetal medicine specialist, told USA TODAY Thursday in a statement.

It "is most commonly seen in the third trimester and the first week postpartum," Cross said. "It is unclear why but maybe related to edema, hypercoagulability and/or immune suppression."

"CBS Mornings" announced Chen's upcoming appearance on Twitter Wednesday, with the full interview between Chen and King is set to air Friday.

Gia Virginia is De Niro’s seventh child.

De Niro revealed he welcomed a baby with Chen in May, with De Niro's representative Stan Rosenfield confirming the baby's birth to USA TODAY.

At the time, the "Godfather" and "Meet the Parents" star spilled more to King, who showed off the first photo of the infant. Baby De Niro was born April 6 and weighed 8 pounds and 6 ounces.

De Niro is also dad to Drena, 51, and Raphael, 46, from his first marriage to Diahnne Abbott. He shares twins Julian and Aaron, 27, with Toukie Smith, whom he never married. And he shares Elliot, 25, and Helen Grace, 11, with Grace Hightower, whom he wed in 1997 and separated from in 2018.

He is also a grandfather — and recently lost his 19-year-old grandson Leandro De Niro Rodriguez, saying he was "deeply distressed by the passing of my beloved grandson" in a statement earlier this month.

Robert De Niro's grandson Leandro died from 'fentanyl laced pills,' mom Drena says

Contributing: Elise Brisco

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tiffany Chen on facial function loss after baby with Robert De Niro