OTI Mabuse has revealed her baby spent six weeks in hospital after being born premature.
The Dancing On Ice judge admitted the ordeal was “traumatic” as her daughter was put in an incubator with jaundice and Oti herself was diagnosed with sepsis.
She announced the birth on Christmas Day but has now revealed she actually had her baby in October.
Speaking on the Happy Mum Happy Baby podcast, Oti said: “We announced the baby when she was nine weeks.
“We just wanted to take time for ourselves.
“She was very premature. She came really, really early. Unexpectedly premature, which was a big, big, big shock.
“Going through all of that emotional trauma that you go through when you have a premature baby and for six weeks being in the hospital with the little one and then finally coming out and having her home with friends and family over Christmas was really, really nice.”
Oti, who hasn’t revealed the name of her daughter with husband Marius Lepure, explained: “She was in a critical condition really for the first six weeks and me and Marius just really wanted to be there mentally, physically, emotionally.
“My mum stopped everything thing and flew directly to England just to be with us.
“Things don’t always go to plan, especially when you have a little premature baby. You give birth, you hug and then the baby gets taken away.
“The next time you see them they’re in a box and they’re wired up and they’re not well or under blue light and it gets traumatic.
“You have to get over giving birth and then get over, ‘Oh I’m not walking out of here with my baby. We’re going to stay here for a while’.”
She was left shocked following the birth when she was diagnosed with sepsis and her baby was taken away for care.
Former Strictly pro Oti continued: “It was this moment of, I’ve been through this amazing birth, which was incredible. It was serene, it was happy and it was everything that I wanted. The last bit was not what I had wanted.
“You see your child for two minutes and then they get taken away by a group of ten midwives and doctors. That’s when things start to change and start to hit you.
“I think we didn’t hold her for about a week because she was still in an incubator with the wires, and with jaundice so she was under blue light. And she had infections because it turned out that I had sepsis.”
But praising the NHS, she added: “The NHS and the midwives and the doctors and the consultants are amazing.”
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