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Oti Mabuse has admitted she feels ‘very lucky’ that her baby daughter survived following a ‘traumatic’ premature birth.
The Strictly Come Dancing pro, 34, revealed she welcomed her daughter with her husband Marius Lepure, 41, in November but their baby was born prematurely with an infection, spending six weeks in intensive care.
The dancer also experienced complications after the birth when she was diagnosed with sepsis.
Oti, who was born in South Africa, and Marius, who was born in Romania, feel very fortunate that her daughter lived because babies raised in their native countries don’t help children who are born very prematurely.
Opening up on her tough road into motherhood, Oti revealed she holds a lot of ‘guilt’ that her baby arrived early.
Oti Mabuse, 34, has admitted she feels ‘very lucky’ that her baby daughter survived following a ‘traumatic’ premature birth
The Strictly Come Dancing pro revealed she welcomed her daughter with her husband Marius Lepure, 41, (pictured) in November but their baby was born prematurely with an infection, spending six weeks in intensive care
Speaking to The Mirror, she said: ‘There were moments where she wouldn’t eat, feeding her was really tough. In South Africa and Romania, they don’t help children who are born as young as she was, so we were very, very lucky.’
Marius said: ‘I knew there was nothing better we can do. I saw babies where If it would have been that week in Romania they would not have saved the baby. We are lucky.’
The dancer admitted she was at ‘her lowest’ just after she gave birth because of the state her baby daughter was in.
Oti said: ‘The baby was sick. She couldn’t breathe on her own, she couldn’t eat on her own. She was really small. We couldn’t hold her. That was incredibly, incredibly tough. I cried for an hour.’
Oti has been incredibly open about her traumatic birth after she explained how her baby daughter’s life was saved by the NHS after a terrifying sepsis scare.
She told The Sun on Sunday: ‘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.’
Oti, who was born in South Africa, and Marius, who was born in Romania, feel very fortunate that her daughter lived because babies raised in their native countries don’t help children who are born very prematurely
Opening up on her tough road into motherhood, Oti revealed she holds a lot of ‘guilt’ that her baby arrived early
Oti has been incredibly open about her traumatic birth after she explained how her baby daughter’s life was saved by the NHS after a terrifying sepsis scare
She always felt as if her daughter was in ‘safe hands’ as medics gave her the best possible treatment.
Oti added that the little one had to learn how to eat alone and breathe alone but admitted that the neonatal unit is a world she knows little about she she claimed the team did an ‘amazing’ job.
She shocked fans when she announced she would be leaving Strictly as a double champion after seven years in 2022.
Oti won the Glitterball trophy in two consecutive years with Emmerdale star Kelvin Fletcher and comedian Bill Bailey leaving many to believe that the South African could be set for a sensational hat trick.
