Jesy Nelson recovering after ‘successful’ surgery to help unborn twins

Former Little Mix star Jesy Nelson says she is recovering in hospital following the “success” of an operation that is hoped to prevent complications around a high-risk pregnancy condition.

The singer, 33, from Romford, said her “pre-stage” twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS), which affects identical twins who share a placenta, has “cleared up”.

“Hey guys, so we just wanted to give you guys an update, because we know it’s been a while,” Nelson said in an Instagram video.

“I don’t know if you can see, we are still in hospital so I’ve been recovering, but we have some amazing news.

“The TTTS has cleared up, the operation was a success, which is just absolutely incredible. We are so, so lucky to have the most amazing doctors.

“Basically, the situation we’re in now is my cervix is very, very short, so I can’t leave the hospital because my waters could break at any point and I’m still very, very early.

“I can’t leave the hospital until I’m a certain amount of weeks, so every week we’re just like, ‘Please, please, please, stay in there’.”

She added that she and partner Zion Foster are “so grateful” her twins are surviving and “are still going strong”.

Musician Foster also revealed in the video that he is going to run the London Marathon in the next few weeks for the helpline Twins Trust.

He has raised more than £2,100 out of a £25,000 target, according to the site JustGiving.

Nelson encouraged followers to donate, saying that “anything you can give”, helps fund and support families.

She has previously said her twins were monochorionic diamniotic (MCDA), meaning they share a single placenta but have their own separate sacs.

According to the NHS website, TTTS affects 10 to 15% of identical twins who share a placenta, and it “can have serious consequences”.

The condition is caused by abnormal connecting blood vessels in the twins’ placenta which leads to an imbalanced blood flow from one twin, known as the donor, to the recipient twin, leaving one baby with a greater blood volume than the other.

Nelson, who announced her pregnancy in January, left Little Mix in December 2020 after nine years in the successful girl group.

The girl group, which was formed on The X Factor in 2011, also featured Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Perrie Edwards and Jade Thirlwall as members.

After she left, Nelson released her first solo single, Boyz, featuring Nicki Minaj, in 2021, followed by Bad Thing in 2023.