6 Celebrity Parents Who Had Premature Babies

Every 2 seconds, a baby is born too soon.

This is according to the Born Too Soon report: decade of action on preterm birth. Such report shows, with updated estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), prepared with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, that 152 million vulnerable babies were born preterm from 2010-2020. Overall, this denotes that preterm birth rates have not changed in any region in the world in the past decade.

Preterm birth is defined as a live birth before 37 completed weeks of pregnancy. According to WHO, preterm birth occurs for a “variety of reasons. Most preterm births happen spontaneously, but some are due to medical reasons such as infections, or other pregnancy complications that require early induction of labor or cesarean birth.”

Preterm birth happens when?

Still according to WHO, further research is necessary to understand the causes and mechanisms of preterm birth. Known factors include multiple pregnancies, infections, and chronic health conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure, but in many cases, the cause remains unidentified. There may also be a genetic component involved.

Preterm birth can happen to anyone–even to celebrities. Some of them actually experienced the trauma that preterm birth brings, but also the promise of hope and eventually, a miracle. In observance of NICU Awareness Month this September, here's a list of celebrity parents, who, despite the struggles of having their babies born too soon, took a leap of faith and found their way to healing. 

Celebrity parents who had premature babies

Saab Magalona-Bacarro

Saab Magalona-Bacarro calls her son Pancho her "miracle boy," and would later tell us why: Pancho was not supposed to make it through the night.

The doctors advised Jim to take Saab to the NICU implying that it was the time she could say goodbye to Pancho because he looked like he wasn't going to last the night. “They said he was in critical condition. That he might not make it," Saab said in her Instagram post.

She concluded, “Praise God for listening to our prayers. Love to his guardian angel Luna. Thanks to them, we get to keep our beautiful miracle boy.”

This was a heartbreaking moment for Saab and her husband Jim Bacarro, as they already lost Pancho's twin, Luna. Luna's heart stopped beating so the doctors had to perform an emergency C-section on Saab to try and save Pancho’s life.

In an interview with Inquirer.net, Saab said that the premature baby boy went through a lot of complications in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Pancho suffered from many complications: he had ventriculitis, sepsis, pulmonary hypertension, and grade 4 intraventricular hemorrhage. And at just 17 days old, Pancho had to undergo brain surgery.

Miriam Quiambao

In August 2018, many celebrated the wonderful news that former beauty queen Miriam Quiambao was expecting her first baby with husband Ardy Roberto at the age of 43.

A photo from March 9, 2019, shows their baby boy, born at 35 weeks, looking fragile at around 3.9 lbs. However, by April 30, 2019 he had shown great improvement and grew to 7.5 lbs and 51.5 cm tall. Quiambao was happy to report that his son’s face had become rounder, and his limbs had filled out beautifully, thanks to his strong appetite.

She proudly shared that this growth was achieved solely through breastfeeding. She also expressed gratitude to God and highlighted the benefits of skin-to-skin contact, baby massage, and plenty of cuddles.

Cristalle Belo-Pitt

Cristalle Belo-Pitt’s son Hunter was born prematurely at 33 weeks on May 28, 2018.

At the time, Cristalle, who had delivered her son via C-section at Makati Medical Center, requested prayers for Hunter’s lung development. On June 16, 2018, Cristalle shared a positive update on her Instagram, posting a video of Hunter being brought into her hospital room.

Bianca Lapus

The celebrity mom turned to Instagram documenting the birth of her fourth son, Ethan, on her 34th week. She has been diagnosed with preeclampsia, a pregnancy complication marked by high blood pressure and potential damage to organs, most commonly the liver and kidneys.

Baby Ethan spent days in NICU. Despite being her fourth child, Lapus felt like a first time mom again. Lapus documented their NICU journey on her Instagram feed and stories.

Ogie Diaz

Showbiz reporter Ogie Diaz paid tribute to his fifth and youngest daughter, aptly called Meerah Kehl, who was born prematurely in February 2017 in a Facebook post two years after she was born.

That year, 2019, Diaz posted on Facebook, “Alam n'yo, hindi pa inilalabas ang batang ito, hiningi ko na siya kay Mama Mary sa Simala Church sa Sibonga, Cebu. Abot-abot ang dasal ko. Sabi ko, "Lord, Kayo po ang mas nakakaalam kung para po sa amin ang anak ko o kukunin N'yo po siya. Anuman po ang desisyon n'yo, maluwag ko pong tatanggapin. Pero hangga't kaya namin ng mama niya, hindi namin siya isusuko. Mawala man siya, at least, alam ng anak ko na ginawa namin ang lahat para maisalba siya." Kaya naman balik kami nang balik doon. Ngayon, sa tuwing tinitingnan ko siya, kinakarga... hindi pa rin ako makapaniwala na ito na pala 'yung batang ipinaglaban ng mama niya para lang umabot siya kahit 6 months bago ilabas.”

Fabio Ide

Brazilian-Japanese model-actor Fabio Ide hinted on August 13, 2023, that his partner Ellen had already given birth. He shared that their twins were born prematurely at 30 weeks and required time in the NICU.

On September 17, Fabio updated his Instagram followers, announcing that they had brought Maya home, and on October 1, he shared that Luna had also been cleared for release. Luna had spent 50 days at the Makati Medical Center before being discharged.

Learn about Baby Care Basics for Your Preemie When You Bring Him Home here.