Explaining to children where babies come from is not a prospect many parents relish.

Let’s face it: once a child is beyond being fobbed off with vague tales of birds and cabbage patches, all parties involved can look forward to fantastically awkward conversations that may or may not involve ‘special cuddles’ or several layers of embarrassment hidden behind terrifyingly cold anatomical descriptions.

Now, in a new interview, actor Thandie Newton reveals she went for the straight-talking approach with her daughter – and in doing so, perfectly highlighted the importance of being open about consensual sex.

Speaking to The Edit magazine, the actor – who has three children with film-maker Ol Parker – says she and daughter Ripley, now 16, were discussing sex a few years ago because Newton was pregnant.

“I said, ‘Daddy has a beautiful penis, which enters Mama, and these two precious parts of us join together…’ A few days later, Ripley came home from school saying, ‘Mummy, I had to tell Don he was wrong today. Don said sex is when a man makes his willy go really hard and then beats the woman with it.’

“Lucky I got to her first.”

Thandie Newton is upfront with her children about consensual sex