Oti Mabuse gives candid health update on daughter and calls for better NHS funding
Former Strictly Come Dancing star says family moved to be closer to a hospital after newborn’s prematurity and describes her own postnatal complications
Oti Mabuse said she "doesn't know what's to come" for her young daughter after the former Strictly Come Dancing professional recounted the impact of prematurity and neonatal care on her family during an appearance on ITV's Loose Women.
Mabuse, 35, told the panel she and her husband Marius Lepure, 41, became parents in November 2023 when their daughter was born prematurely with an infection and spent six weeks in neonatal intensive care and about eight weeks in hospital overall. Speaking while the programme discussed newly released NHS league tables, Mabuse stressed the importance of local, well-funded hospital services for families facing prolonged hospital stays.
"For me, it's really important because we know we're gonna spend a lot of time in hospitals," Mabuse said on the ITV panel. "We don't know what's to come, but we know we're going to be in hospitals." She praised staff at the hospital where her daughter was born and said the family subsequently moved to be nearer to better services.
Mabuse used her account to underline the practical consequences of hospital funding and staffing. "Give the carers what they need, give them the equipment and support them," she told the panel, noting the need for timely ambulance response and adequate resources rather than outsourcing care.
The dancer also detailed her own postnatal health problems. She said she was diagnosed with gestational diabetes at about 28 weeks, later learned she was pre‑diabetic, and developed sepsis after giving birth. Mabuse described severe pelvic pain and difficulty moving in the days after delivery and recalled that she and her husband saw their daughter for only about 10 minutes before she was taken into intensive care.
"This premature world only comes to light when you're going through it... It was a really, really scary time," she said.
Mabuse's comments came during a discussion of the NHS league tables, published to rank hospital performance on metrics including waiting times, leadership and quality of care. The programme's panelists, including Charlene White, Janet Street-Porter and Kelly Brook, discussed how local variations in care can affect families who must rely on hospital services for extended periods.
Loose Women airs weekdays on ITV and on the ITVX streaming service.