Former Today anchor Hoda Kotb has spoken about her ongoing anxiety over managing her seven-year-old daughter Hope's Type 1 diabetes diagnosis.
In an interview with USA Today published on September 29, the 62-year-old television presenter explained that she frequently monitors Hope's insulin levels throughout the night following her child's diagnosis in 2023.
Type 1 diabetes is a chronic autoimmune condition where the pancreas produces little or no insulin, requiring constant monitoring of blood sugar levels. Kotb, who is also mother to nine-year-old daughter Haley, described checking her phone constantly during the night to track her daughter's health metrics.
Kotb admitted that stress is a constant part of parenting under these health conditions. "Everyone's got something," Kotb said of her stress levels. "I worry about my youngest daughter, who has diabetes. I am concerned. I go to sleep, I watch my phone all night to see what her numbers are doing. I wake up and see. That's just constant. That is how it is."
Monitoring daily health
To manage her anxiety, the broadcaster explained that she practices breathwork routines to reset her mindset and maintain her strength for her family. Taking time to "release everything I'm carrying" allows her to return to her children with full energy, she noted.
"And now I go back to Hope and Haley, tank full, let's go," Kotb continued. "We're all caring for someone who needs a lot of stuff, or we're going through life stuff, and I just feel like get on your knees and then go climb the mountain!"
Kotb added that it provides comfort knowing that she and many others are "a work in progress," observing that people are often "connected in the broken places."
Impact on morning television career
Kotb publicly shared Hope's health diagnosis last year. She explained that her daughter's ongoing medical needs played a major role in her decision to step down from NBC's Today show in 2025 after 17 years with the network.
NBC's Today show is a long-running American morning news and talk broadcast operating out of Rockefeller Center in New York City. Kotb previously served as co-anchor alongside Savannah Guthrie and Craig Melvin, bringing morning news and lifestyle segments to millions of viewers daily.
Speaking to former co-hosts Melvin and Guthrie, Kotb described how monitoring her child affected her while working on live television. "You're constantly watching, you're constantly monitoring, you're constantly checking," Kotb told them. "Which is what I did all the time when I was [at Today]. You're distracted."
Kotb, who is the founder of the wellness initiative Joy 101, co-parents her daughters with her ex-fiance Joel Shiffman. While she noted that Hope "is fine for most of the day," certain times require immediate supervision.
"I was totaling it up," Kotb explained regarding her daily care routine. "Five minutes at breakfast, five minutes at lunch, five minutes at dinner, sometimes overnight. Add that up, that's a half-hour."
A history of family milestones
Kotb's journey as a mother includes numerous public and personal milestones shared with fans over the years. In September 2026, Kotb reunited with her ex-fiance Joel Schiffman to send Haley and Hope off to school together for the new academic term.
Earlier that year, she rang in 2026 alongside her two daughters. The family also took a major holiday trip in December 2025, visiting Universal Studios Hollywood in Los Angeles for a vacation.
Universal Studios Hollywood is a famous film studio and theme park in California featuring cinema-themed rides and attractions. For Kotb, the family vacation formed part of her expanded family time after leaving morning television.
In May 2025, the former morning host enjoyed a Mother's Day brunch with her daughters. In January 2025, Kotb celebrated her very first free morning after leaving Today by personally dropping her children off at school.
"School drop!!! Let's goooo!" the longtime NBC anchor wrote on Instagram to caption a photo of the morning routine.
Suburban life and family memories
Following her announcement that she was departing Today, Kotb celebrated her first Halloween in the New York suburbs with her children in autumn 2024. For the occasion, Haley and Hope wore matching cheerleader costumes.
Earlier that spring, Kotb grew emotional when Haley and Hope surprised her with an early Mother's Day gift. Her family life has consistently involved close ties with her extended family.
During her birthday celebration in 2021, Kotb was surrounded by family members, including Schiffman, their daughters, her sister Hala, her brother Adel, her nieces Hannah and Ella, and her mother Sami.
Kotb has also enjoyed spending days out with her daughters around New York City. On previous Halloweens, she and her eldest daughter dressed up as their favorite Sesame Street alter egos for the holiday.
Sesame Street is an iconic educational children's television program known worldwide for its Muppet characters. In October 2019, Kotb shared a photograph of herself and Haley attending a Sesame Street party together.
On Halloween in 2019, Kotb shared a group photo featuring her own mother Sami, who is grandmother to Haley and Hope.
Welcoming Hope and early childhood years
Family trips to the beach have also been a summer tradition for Kotb and her daughters. In August 2019, Kotb and Haley spent a summer day splashing in the ocean together.
Later that month, Haley celebrated her mother's 55th birthday. In May 2019, Kotb shared an Instagram photo showing Haley feeding newborn Hope, writing: "Look who is feeding Hope!"
In early May 2019, Kotb's longtime friend and former Today co-host Kathie Lee Gifford met baby Hope for the first time. Gifford co-hosted Today's fourth hour alongside Kotb for eleven years before leaving the show in April 2019.
Kotb shared a photo of her complete family on Instagram for the first time in April 2019, writing: "This is us xo."
She had previously introduced Hope Catherine to the world after surprising her Today show family on-air by revealing she had secretly adopted her second child.
On Valentine's Day in 2019, Kotb celebrated Haley's second birthday, posting on Instagram that she felt "so much love today."
Early family traditions and celebrations
During the Christmas holiday season, Kotb spent time at home with her mother, her sister, and daughter Haley. The family also enjoyed Halloween traditions in earlier years, including matching bee costumes for Haley's second Halloween.
In August 2018, Kotb and Haley spent an autumn day together picking apples. On her 54th birthday that month, Kotb posted a photo playing in the water, writing: "I can't believe I get to do this. #grateful"
For Mother's Day in 2018, Kotb posed with Haley while the toddler wore a shirt reading "mama." Kotb also shared an early morning bed selfie, gushing: "Pre dawn photo shoots in bed are a blast."
In March 2018, Kotb, who is originally from Oklahoma, celebrated partner Schiffman's 60th birthday with their baby daughter and a homemade cake.
Kotb's television career has also involved major international assignments. In early 2018, she spent two weeks covering the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea for NBC.
Pyeongchang is a county in South Korea that hosted the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. The day before arriving in Pyeongchang, Kotb shared photos playing with her daughter while wearing a USA beanie, before later celebrating her return home on Instagram with the caption: "Home!!!!!"
