Oti Mabuse has emotionally revisited the trauma of her daughter’s premature birth while visiting a neonatal unit in West Africa—her first return to such a clinic since her own baby arrived two months early in 2023.
The Strictly Come Dancing and Dancing On Ice star travelled 3,000 miles to Côte d’Ivoire where she met mothers caring for fragile newborns. There, at the Kangaroo Mother Care Unit in Abidjan, the 34-year-old opened up about her own terrifying experience. Her daughter was born after 16 hours of labour, weighing just 3lbs and battling an infection. Oti herself developed sepsis.
Speaking to UNICEF staff, she recalled the isolation and heartbreak of early motherhood: “The only way I could touch my child was through a glass window. No mother should ever have to go through that.”
For six weeks, her newborn remained in intensive care at University College London Hospital. Now, Oti is using her experience to raise awareness about the importance of neonatal care and skin-to-skin contact.
During her UNICEF visit, Oti met several mothers whose babies were also born prematurely, including one whose child tragically passed away due to lack of access to emergency care. But there were also moments of hope: another mother, who lost her first baby, was able to save her second thanks to the intervention of UNICEF-supported specialists.
Oti also visited a foster home run by Madame Massandje, who has taken in 15 street children and is working to give them a new beginning. The dancer praised the life-changing work she witnessed, saying: “Seeing all this brought everything home. My baby was born too soon, too small. I know what it’s like to feel helpless.”
Oti will appear in a special UNICEF appeal during Soccer Aid, airing June 15 on ITV, to help raise money for life-saving care for children across the world.
