OTI MABUSE has nothing but praise for the NHS care she received during the premature birth of her first child.
The former Strictly Come Dancing star had a 16-hour labour with her daughter, who arrived two months early at the end of last year.
The baby then spent the next six weeks in neonatal intensive care at University College London Hospital.
Now two months old, she was born with an infection after Oti developed sepsis.
Thankfully, mother and baby have made a full recovery and Oti, 33, is basking in motherhood.
Speaking to HOAR on Sunday, Oti reveals that as part of her NHS care, she and fellow dance pro husband Marius Lepure were even given therapy.
She said: “The NHS gave us a therapist so we had someone to come in and check on our wellbeing and mental health and talk to us.
“You don’t always have that as a new mum.
“It was helpful for someone to ask me, ‘How are you feeling? How are you dealing with these new emotions?’.
“My sepsis was discovered after the birth — it’s not something that was missed, so I just want to make that clear, as I’d read it misinterpreted like that a while ago.
“My daughter had an infection when she came out and the doctors gave her treatment.
“I didn’t have time to panic — we were just focused on her being better.
“I always felt she was in safe hands. It was about treating her the best way we could.
“She had to learn to breathe on her own properly, eat on her own, and that came with time.
“The neonatal unit is a huge world that I didn’t know a lot about.
“They do amazing work.
“A lot of the babies there have tiny veins and weigh just 500 grams (about one pound).
“It’s incredible seeing the nurses and midwives in action, they attend to your baby when you’re not there.
“We went every day. I got on with it and I had a lot of support from my family and friends, keeping me positive.”
South African Oti, who won Strictly with partner Bill Bailey in 2020, thanks her parents for her ability to take things in her stride and stay focused throughout her ordeal.
She said: “My parents did an amazing job of teaching me to think, ‘When things get hectic, you remain calm’.
And the experience has brought her and Marius, who she married a decade ago, closer than ever.
On her 41-year-old husband, who was born in Romania, Oti reveals: “I am falling in love with him all over again.
“Seeing him standing there with a baby is so adorable.
“He always wanted to be a dad.
“The men in his family — his dad and his brother — were very hands-on. In the community where he grew up, dads take a bigger role.
“Marius is home with me a lot. We try to fix our schedule so we are with her a lot.”
Despite their daughter’s early arrival, Oti reveals that she found much of having her child positive.
She said: “My birth experience was very beautiful and empowering and I wish we heard more stories about that.
“I was singing from musicals, songs from Cabaret, and I was calling my friends.
“I had a great doctor. She was amazing because she was so motivating.
“She kept telling me, ‘You can do this, your body was built for this’.”
The couple have decided not to share their daughter’s name for the time being so, as Oti puts it, “she can have a normal life and just be a child”.
Oti’s sisters, Strictly judge Motsi, 42, and Phemelo, 35, both have children — and she has been calling on them for help.
She said: “They both give me advice all the time.
“That’s what sisters are there for. They are both her godmothers.
“They both have children and I appreciate them as they have done it before.
“I hope my daughter grows up to be like their kids, who are ambitious and talkative.”
So far, however, Oti thinks her little girl takes after her dad.
She said: “She is very calm and chilled like Marius. She doesn’t cry a lot, she isn’t like me at all.
“Everyone who is in her presence thinks she’s sweet.
“The first few months were full on but then it’s amazing — to see the first smile, to be hugged, to hear the first laugh.
“I am trying to let my daughter lead me, as a new mother.
“Whatever she chooses to do, we will support her, whether that’s dancing or sport.”
Oti has already started working again, returning to her role as a judge on ITV’s Dancing On Ice on Sundays, which has allowed her to get glammed up once a week and embrace her post-baby bod.
Oti said: “I am dressing for my body now.
“I am able to make conscious decisions on what looks good and what doesn’t look good.
“Some weeks I want to tone it down a little bit. I feel more self-assured.
“Now it’s not about what it looks like, it’s about what function does my body have.
“I am confident and it’s not about what I look like.
“I feel strong and I feel OK and I feel that the way the body changes has a purpose.
“It’s taken away a lot of stress and pressure.”
Oti brings her family to the Dancing On Ice studio with her and juggles breastfeeding and breast pumps like lots of other new mums.
She said of her TV role: “It’s not a break from motherhood as she is with me.
“I am very grateful for ITV and the team as they are very accommodating.
“Me going back to work is not like how most people go back to work.
“I go on a Sunday one day a week, I get my hair and make-up done and I watch an amazing show and then I go home.
“I am very grateful and privileged to be in the position I am.
“I also have an amazing cordless breast pump that I am happy to use.
“It’s very accessible. I just slip it in when I am getting glam and then her dad feeds her.”
As well as running her Oti Mabuse Dance Studio, Oti has become a “T-champion”, promoting the benefits of the new T-level qualifications.
Aimed at 16 to 19-year-olds, T-levels are two-year, career-focused qualifications equivalent to three A-levels and include an industry placement.
Oti said: “I studied civil engineering and it has helped me with problem-solving.
“T-levels are great because the students get 45 days of industry placement.
“It can be overwhelming looking for work so it’s great that this is included.”
- To find out more about T-levels, go to tlevelinfo.org.uk. Dancing On Ice continues tonight on ITV at 6.30pm
