Hoda Kotb Opens Up About ‘Begging’ Nurses To Let Her Bathe Her Daughter During Hospital Stay

Kotb kicked off National Nurses Week by sharing her personal experience with nursing staff at the hospital where her daughter Hope was admitted to the ICU.

Mother’s Moments

The host took several weeks off earlier this year to tend to her daughter’s medical needs.

“I was just thinking about when Hope was in the hospital for one of those days and I was sitting — it was 3 a.m., and I was just sitting in this chair. I was just in this room in a chair by myself, thinking about, like, what’s going on here,” Kotb shared.

“And this nurse walked in, put her hand on my back, didn’t even say anything, just sat there for a minute. I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ I could feel myself, like, right at the time,” she added.

“They knew at that moment. Because a lot of what they do isn’t about giving the IV and the needles and the stuff and the tests and all those things. It’s more than that. It’s everything that they do.”

Humbling Stories

“I remember I was there, and I asked for a bath,” Kotb continued. “I wanted to give her a bath and they could only sponge her and I said, ‘Please, I’m begging you, I just want a bath for my child.’ And I remember they got this little plastic thing, and they put it in the shower and put Hope in it and I remembered, like, that tiny thing, but it was everything at the time. It was beautiful.”

Kotb previously revealed on Today with Hoda and Jenna that her daughter’s undisclosed diagnosis was a very frightening experience.

“She’s vibrant and brilliant,” she said; adding that she’s “over the moon” to have her daughter back home where she belongs.

Read More: Hoda Kotb’s Absence from ‘Today’ Show Explained: ‘Dealing With Family Health Matters’ (rare.us)