Hoda Kotb Shares Update on 5-Year-Old Daughter Hope One Year After Health Scare

Hoda Kotb’s daughter Hope is on the other side of her health struggles.

After taking an extended absence from Today in February 2023, when her 5-year-old daughter suffered a sudden medical crisis that left her in the ICU for days, Hoda is sharing an update on Hope’s health.

“We're in a place where Hope is thriving,” the NBC News anchor, who is also mom to daughter Haley, 7, told People in an interview published on Oct. 9. “She is improving, we're watching her, and I think that as time goes on, we'll have a better handle on it, but we're already seeing great differences. We have really excellent care, I have people who are helping us out. I feel like she is finding steady footing.” 

In late February 2023, Hoda, 60, was noticeably absent from Today as her co-anchors explained she was dealing with a “family health matter.” Upon her return on March 6—following a multiple week absence—Hoda revealed that Hope (who was 3 at the time) had been hospitalized for over a week. 

And it was that experience, that helped influence her decision to retire from her full-time position at NBC’s Today at the top of next year, which she announced last month. 

“I've had yearnings, and you know when something's pulling you?” Hoda told People. “It's like you either go toward it or you shove it down and say, ‘Nope, this is the way. I'm going to stay here because it's safe.’” 

“It does make more sense to stay at NBC,” she continued. “I'm financially secure and I would have job security. I mean, why would you ever not do that? But I've been watching my kids and I was thinking to myself, I wonder what I'm missing?”

But it came down to wanting to make a change for her daughters.

“I knew that I wanted this decade to be different,” Hoda explained. “I looked at my time like a pie. I was like, this is how much time I get, and now what am I going to do with it and how am I going to carve it up? And I wanted it to be filled with more of them.”

And the journalist wanted to find a balance that she couldn’t have as a full-time working mom.

“There’s the guilt you carry because you can't be 100 percent at work and 100 percent at home,” she noted. “Something has to give if you want excellence. If you're going to be excellent at work, something has to give at home. And if you want to be excellent at home, I mean excellent, and do all the things, something has to give at work. It can't be equal.”

Keep reading for more of the Today anchor’s family moments…

(E! and Today are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)

Hoda got emotional as Haley and Hope surprised her with an early Mother's Day gift.

Joined by her siblings Hala and Adel, nieces Hannah and Ella, mom Sami, daughters Haley Joy and Hope Catherine and fiancé Joel Schiffman, Hoda Kotb described the celebration as "my kinda birthday."

Hoda enjoys a day with her daughters Haley Joy and Hope Catherine around New York City together.

Another Halloween in the books! Hoda and her first daughter spend their another Halloween together as their Sesame Street alter egos.

The Today show momma spends time with her own mom (and Haley's grandma!) in this cute group shot on Halloween 2019.

The host shared this pic of her and her little one at a Sesame Street party in Oct. 2019.

The daytime talk show host spends a day splashing around the beach in Aug. 2019.

Haley Joy looks cute as a button celebrating her mom's 55th birthday this past August.

"Look who is feeding Hope!" Kotb wrote on her Instagram in May 2019, showing off Haley feeding her newborn Hope.

Kathie Lee Gifford, Hoda's close friend and long-time former co-host at Today, met Hope in early May and they were all smiles all day.

In April, the 55-year-old host shared a photo of her full family for the first time on Instagram writing, "This is us xo."

It's a girl! Hoda introduced Hope to the world after surprising her Today show family on-air revealing that she had secretly adopted her second child.

On Valentine's Day, the TV host celebrated Haley's second birthday and shared on Instagram how she felt saying, "So much love today."

The beaming TV personality spent Christmas with her mother, sister and daughter.

Haley celebrated her second Halloween by twinning with her mom in matching bee costumes.

In August of 2018, the mother-daughter duo spent an autumn day together picking apples.

"I can't believe I get to do this .. #grateful" she wrote on her 54th birthday.

On Mother's Day, Today co-anchor Hoda posed with her one-year-old cutie, Haley, as she sported a cute tee with the word "mama."

"Pre dawn photo shoots in bed are a blast," gushed the happy mom in a cute Insta selfie early on Mother's Day.

On March 2018, the Oklahoma-native celebrated partner Joel Schiffman's 60th birthday with their baby girl and a homemade cake.

"Home!!!!!" announced the TV host on Instagram after spending two weeks covering the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

The day before arriving in Pyeongchang for the 2018 Winter Olympics, the TV personality had some fun with her little sweetheart and her USA beanie.

Gooo Saints! Hoda and her little sport's fan cheered on the New Orleans Saints in their game against the Minnesota Vikings on January 14.

"Santa we are ready!!!" the journalist wrote on this Christmas selfie with her mom, her partner and her little angel.

On November 23, Hoda posed with her partner and her baby girl for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

For her first Halloween, Haley wore an adorable bunny costume as she enjoyed trick-or-treating in a stroller driven by her mom and her mom's long-term boyfriend.

On October 26, Hoda dressed Haley in a jack-o-lantern costume writing on Instagram, "I couldn't wait !!"

During a Labor Day weekend beach trip, Hoda snapped a selfie with six-month-old Haley and the rest of the family, including her mom (left), sister (top right) and brother (right).

The Today co-anchor was overjoyed to spend Labor Day weekend with her bundle of joy.

The three-month-old surprised her mama on on the Today Show for Mother's Day weekend in 2017, marking her debut television appearance.