Hoda Kotb gives update on daughter Hope following health scare: 'Things have stabilized'

TODAY's Hoda Kotb gave an update on her youngest daughter Hope's health, one year after she was in the hospital for more than a week.

Hoda said in an interview with People published on March 6 that "things have stabilized," and that her family is focused on managing Hope's health long-term.

"We had a scary stretch," Hoda told People. "Any parent who’s been through a scary thing with their child understands.

"It’s like you just can’t believe that your child’s sick. You can’t believe that there’s nothing you can do. You can’t believe that no matter what you do, you can’t will it away or protect her, or all the things that we’re supposed to be doing as parents," she said. "And it’s a position I’ve never found myself in."

Hoda, mom to Hope and older daughter Haley, took two weeks off from TODAY in February 2023 when Hope experienced a health matter and was hospitalized for more than week, with several days spent in the intensive care unit.

Hoda, 59, told People she didn't want to share the specifics of Hope's diagnosis due to her young age, and that she's working to "make everything normal" for her daughters.

"It’s really tricky, because I don’t want Hope to get labeled," she said. "She’s a kid who is so vibrant, and most days everything is totally fine. I don’t want people to look at her differently."

The TODAY co-anchor said she makes time to have fun with her two daughters, Haley, 7, and Hope, 4.

"We eat dinner, then it’s bath time, then we march down the hall playing Lizzo’s 'Juice' with a little speaker until the neighbors say, 'That’s enough. It’s too loud.' Then it’s 8 p.m., and it’s bedtime," she said.

On the weekends it's usually birthday parties, she said, and she tries to pick her kids up from school as much as possible.

"I’m not going to put my worry on her. It’s too much for a kid to carry," Hoda said.

"Even just always saying, 'How are you feeling? You feeling good today, honey?' is saying, 'I’m worried,' because you’re not saying that about your other child. I’ll be discussing how it’s going with the nanny, the nurse, whoever, and if she’s there, she’s like, 'Am I OK?'

"I’m trying so hard to let her be a kid and not have all of the grown-up worries," Hoda said.

Hoda, who published her newest children's book "Hope is a Rainbow" on March 5, said she dedicated the book to her daughter because of who she is.

"I thought her goodness should be spread around," she said. "She was the hope that I’d been looking for and wanting. Sometimes you name a child, and then they become the name."

Hoda said she hopes that Hope's health struggles will have served a purpose in her adult life.

"I look at her, and I think, 'Wow, you blossomed into this incredible kid who is so resilient and well-equipped for her whole life despite this stuff that has happened to her,'" Kotb told People.

"She just demonstrates that when you have whatever she has inside of her, this will, this fight, this everything ... she can withstand anything. This child is going to have the easiest adulthood because she’s had a tough go of it early on."

This article was originally published on TODAY.com