Oti Mabuse has addressed her fears for NHS funding as she admitted she ‘doesn’t know what’s to come’ for her daughter and called for more money to be given to the health service
Oti Mabuse has addressed her fears for NHS funding as she admitted she ‘doesn’t know what’s to come’ for her daughter. The former Dancing On Ice star, 35, was on the Loose Women panel alongside anchor Charlene White, Janet Street-Porter and Kelly Brook on Tuesday when the lunchtime ladies were discussing new NHS league tables which ranked the best and worst hospitals in the country.
The hospitals were judged on factors such as waiting times for operations, cancer treatment, ambulance waiting times, finances as well as leadership and capability qualities. Oti welcomed her little girl – whose name she has never revealed publicly – two months prematurely in December 2023 with her husband Marius Iepure.
“I’ve spoken about my daughter being born premature and we spent eight weeks in the hospital. We were lucky that the hospital she was born was a good one but we live in an area wasn’t so great. For me, it’s really important because we know we’re gonna spent a lot of time in hospitals because of her prematurity. We don’t know what’s to come, but we know we’re going to be in hospitals.”
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“It’s important for us to have a hospital that has good care, the ambulance respond in time. Where we were – we’ve moved now – the staff were amazing. They cared for the patients, they gave the best care.
“You could see that they were passionate about their jobs. But the money is so important. We do need to finance these hospitals. Instead of sending elsewhere, put it in the NHS! Give the carers what they need, give them the equipment and support them.”
Janet then asked the former to clarify if she had moved to be closer to a better hospital, and Oti confirmed: “Yes, that was important, that was important.”
Last year, the former Strictly Comer Dancing star appeared on I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!, where, at one point in the series, she opened up about her daughter’s health issues with fellow campmate Rev Richard Coles.
She said: They are, my daughter was really, really tiny when she was born. It’s hell. It’s hell to be in the hospital, to hear those sounds, to not see your baby’s eyes for a week, it’s hell to constantly look for advice from the doctors.”
Trying not to cry, Oti shared what she called the worst thing for her, which was that “every night, you need to leave them, you need to leave your baby in someone else’s hands.” Saying that she can’t wait for Richard to meet her, Oti asked: “Maybe you can say a prayer over her, I would really love that.”
Richard admitted: “I’ve already said a prayer for her actually.” With tears in her eyes, she thanked Richard and gave him a big hug. Richard also opened up about the loss of his former partner, David. He confessed to Oti: “I miss him… He’s just left a massive hole in my life and I’m living my life around that loss.”
Oti developed sepsis during pregnancy, which led to a lengthy spell in hospital for the little one when she arrived early. Oti previously 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!”
Otiwas born and raised in South Africa’s capital, Pretoria, while her fellow pro dancer husband Marius, 42, was born in Satu Mare, Romania, in north-west Transylvania.
He 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.”
Oti said: “The pregnancy itself was beautiful, it was amazing but I had a spontaneous birth where we were going shopping and my waters just broke in the middle of the street.
“Because I didn’t have any experience of birth it didn’t see traumatic at the time. Afterwards I felt that was intense. And when you look at milestones of premature babies, I have to be very, very understanding. The trauma came after.”
