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Former CNN journalist Isha Sesay welcomes first baby at 47

British-Sierra Leonean journalist Isha Sesay has announced the birth of her daughter named Naimah Yasmine Kadi Sesay.

The 47-year-old former CNN news anchor made the announcement in an Instagram post on Saturday.

Ms Sesay, who described her pathway to motherhood as “a long and at times difficult journey,” said the baby was born in New York on February 17,

“Her arrival was preceded by the sudden onset of preeclampsia which unleashed skyrocketing blood pressure and in the hours that followed hemorrhaging, toxemia and fluid overload. In the darkest moments all I could think about was my daughter and she provided the strength that I needed,” she wrote.

The journalist then thanked the medical team that helped deliver the baby.

“Those difficult days are behind us and Naimah and I are thankfully back home. In the blink of an eye, my child has removed all traces of who I once was and what I considered to be important. In keeping with the meaning of her first name, “Naimah,” she is indeed my peace. She is my blessing.

“Thank you to all of you who have followed my pregnancy journey, checked on us, prayed for us, and sent constant well wishes. We love you!

“And I can’t wait to share the triumphs and travails of motherhood in the days ahead,” she concluded her post.

Isha went public about her pregnancy after her third IVF attempt in an essay published by TODAY in October last year.

Her 2013 marriage to Leif Coorlim, an award-winning journalist and executive editor of the CNN Freedom Project, had long ended in divorce.

“A brief marriage to a kind man didn’t result in children, and then the year I turned 40, my mum had a catastrophic stroke, leaving me no emotional space to contemplate anything other than caring for her. Six years went by and a few months ago I found myself in a subpar relationship with a man who took about 12 hours to reply to all my texts, among other red flags. It was then, in the aftermath of our inevitable breakup, that it hit me: Not having a child would be the greatest regret of my life. And with my biological clock ticking down, if I was waiting for the right man to come along before I did it, well, I might just find myself out of time,” she wrote in the essay.

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