Oti Mabuse has made a heartbreaking admission about her baby daughter as she re-lived her traumatic birth story.
The 34-year-old mum-of-one visited a neonatal clinic for the first time since her baby daughter was born prematurely and needed to be in intensive care.
Oti Mabuse travelled to West Africa to meet stricken mums nursing premature babies, after she had her own terrifying experience back in 2023.
How premature was Oti Mabuse’s daughter?
In 2023, Oti endured a 16-hour labour with her daughter, who arrived two months early. Her premature baby weighed 3lbs when born.
Following the traumatic birth, her daughter spent six weeks at University College London Hospital in intensive care. She was born with an infection, and Oti then developed sepsis.
Thankfully, both Oti and her baby daughter recovered. But the trauma of the experience has stayed with her and she revealed just how much when visiting a UNICEF-funded specialist clinic in Africa in a film for Soccer Aid.
While in the city of Abidjan, Oti saw premature babies receiving life-saving treatment and daily care, promoting skin-on-skin contact.
Reminded of her own experience, Oti gave a heartbreaking admission. In a candid video diary, she said: “I remember the only way I could touch my child and have skin-on-skin was through this glass window. There is no mother who wants to experience that.”
Oti went on to meet both babies receiving care and those who were caring for multiple premature babies. And the whole thing seemed to touch her.
She said: “My own baby was born prematurely, so seeing the work and meeting mums like Ouattara brought everything home. I know how vital that care and support is in those early days. Worldwide an estimated 4.8 million children died before reaching their fifth birthday in 2024. Deaths that were mostly preventable.”
How many kids does Oti have?
The I’m A Celebrity star currently only has one child – her baby daughter. However, Oti Mabuse has never revealed the name of her daughter.
While she hasn’t announced the name, she once revealed her mum was the one to give it to her in the end. She previously revealed to Hello!: “My mother named her. My mum named all the children in the family. I think three months before she was born the name was already set.”
And when she was in the jungle, Oti spoke about how she kept positive while her daughter was in the incubator.
She told Reverend Richard Coles: “When my daughter was born premature. Because she was in an incubator, the only thing we could do was sing church songs. For two months, every single day, we would sing church music.”
A UNICEF appeal film of Oti’s trip will feature during Soccer Aid for UNICEF, which will be broadcast on ITV1 at 6pm on Sunday June 15.
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