Melissa Johns, a star of Grantchester, and her husband Dan Hampton have welcomed their 2-year-old daughter Ottilly in a stunning new photo shoot.
Melissa Johns appears absolutely smitten as she and husband Dan Hampton present their beautiful new baby daughter.
Radiating joy as she holds little Ottilly, who arrived on 29 October, the Grantchester star looks completely different from her feisty character Miss Scott. It’s evident that Melissa, 35, is relishing life in the “baby bubble”.
The pair, who wed at the historic 14th-century Brinsop Court Manor House in 2024, are delighted to showcase their precious girl, though they reveal her arrival caught them off guard.
The pair received a lot of information during their 36-week scan. “We were told that the baby was starting to plateau in her growth, and that if we tried to go to 40 weeks, the risk]could be] fatal”, she reveals, whilst cradling Ottilly.
“They mentioned that word – fatal. No mother wants to hear it, in any way. I was in shock when they told us she had 37 weeks to come out. I said, ‘ I can’t do that, that’s next week, ‘ but they insisted”, she recounts. I had “four more weeks” in my head.
Despite it not being the delivery Melissa had envisioned, she describes it as equally enchanting. Surrounded by her midwife and doula, with Dan beside her, Melissa brought her baby girl into the world via caesarean section, weighing 5lb 10oz, accompanied by soothing meditation music (rather than the Spice Girls or Rod Stewart, which were her original preferences!).
After the premature birth of their daughter Ottilly, Melissa and her partner spent five days in the hospital. The hospital staff were incredibly supportive, helping Melissa find comfortable positions to breastfeed with one arm, as she was born without her right forearm and hand.
The most memorable moment for them was the arrival of their young daughter. “I was quite nervous, because we’d had five wonderful days in hospital. However, when we opened the door to our home, I’m not sure, it suddenly appeared to have a different meaning.
The birth of Ottilly marked the end of an era for Melissa on the ITV show Grantchester, where she has portrayed Miss Scott since 2020. Her final scenes were filmed just before they started their new chapter as a family of three with little “Otty”.
Melissa explained that their first child was supposed to be called Vera Violet, but they abruptly changed their minds.
“My other nan, who I am incredibly close to, and Dan and I have a grandmother named Nanny Vera on either side. When I looked up ‘ wild violets ‘ last year, it said that the world can’t live without them but they can’t be tamed and I really loved that”, she says, smiling.
Ottilly was Ottilly’s first name for a while before Melissa realized that she would always have to remind people that her real name was Vera Violet.
“I’d met someone who had a daughter called Ottilly about 10 or 15 years ago and I’d forgotten about it until I happened to come across it when scrolling through a list of the top baby names”, she says.
We both adored the inclusion of “oter” in it when I told Dan about it. Otters are incredibly cute! We fell in love with the name and feel like it really holds its own. She can become Tilly if she wishes, but for the time being, she’s just Otty.
The former Coronation Street actress had previously revealed to us her fears about managing daily tasks with a newborn due to her disability. “Dan and I were saying the other day, even with two arms and a newborn baby, you always need another arm. So when one of those is taken away, it can be quite difficult.
” Having one arm is what people see, but what they don’t see is the excruciating pain I have in my back because of an imbalance of muscles because of my smaller arm, “explains Melissa, who campaigns for disability rights.
She acknowledges that she anticipated finding solutions by this point, but that hasn’t happened, and she relies heavily on senior transport planner Dan to navigate motherhood.
As I figure out my rhythm and maneuverability, Dan is providing a lot of the assistance I need. It’s a real struggle having one arm and a newborn baby. “
Melissa joked that Dan is primarily handling nappy changes, but they’re collaborating to ensure Ottilly receives everything she requires”. I haven’t experienced tears in a day so far, but I believe that’s typical for a new mother. However, I was really struck by the fact that there are so many products that are not accessible or accessible.
Melissa reveals she’s already considering how she might spark change, and would want to establish a disabled parents network where she and fellow parents could support each other and share equipment recommendations.
How wonderful would it be if I could drape Otty inside a bag so that I wouldn’t have to try to fit her tiny limbs in her outfit? A newborn baby doesn’t have to be disabled to put clothes on! I just wish the world knew that if you changed these things, it wouldn’t just benefit disabled people. It’s difficult enough to have a newborn baby! She elaborates.
For new father Dan, nothing thus far has matched the sensation of cradling his baby daughter for the first time”. Although life has really changed, I’m happy that she is still alive and continues to do very well. He shares with us that she is well-fed, has a nice routine, and is feeding well.
Melissa continues”, We’ve been really lucky with nighttimes. We’ve been getting between five and six hours of sleep, divided into two parts. It’s been nice that there are times when it’s dark (I’m not sure if it’s because we’re a little crazy, but we laugh so hard at things that aren’t even slightly funny)!
However, there is one family member who isn’t quite as sure about their adorable new arrival – Nancy, their sprocker spaniel. “I think Nancy’s probably a bit put out,” Dan chuckles. Melissa elaborates, “When our dog does a big stretch, Dan will say ‘Big stretch’ and the other day, Ottilly did a big stretch and Dan said ‘Big stretch Ottilly.’ The way that dog looked at Dan! I didn’t think dogs could be as human as she was in that moment!”.
While Nancy may need a bit more time to adjust to having a baby around, Melissa and Dan have already discussed expanding their family one day”. We’d really like to have two, she says, “if we have the chance to have two, and there are many factors that need to be taken.”
Because she had never seen anyone with a similar disability receive a fairytale ending, Melissa had always felt that motherhood and marriage were “out of reach.”
People constantly message me telling me how confident I am in my body and how they continue to conceal their limb differences. It breaks my heart that people think they’re not worthy of that love, “she admits.
The saying, “You need to learn to love yourself first, before anyone else can love you, is not something I like.” As disabled people, we weren’t born to hate our bodies. We’ve often been taught to hate our bodies by the world we live in.
“So, yes, I will love my body and work to give it the respect it deserves, but that hate was suffocated by others’ judgment and opinions. We should stop judging how much people with disabilities are deserving of love and family, as one of my greatest hopes for the world is.
