Priyanka Chopra has spoken candidly about one of the most fragile chapters of her life. In a deeply personal conversation, the actor reflected on the traumatic weeks surrounding the premature birth of her daughter, Malti Marie Chopra Jonas, who was born via surrogate in January 2022.

During an appearance on Jay Shetty’s podcast, Priyanka revealed how the journey to motherhood had already been challenging before Malti’s unexpected early arrival. She said, “The whole thing was tough because our journey to Malti was itself rough. I don’t know whether I am ready to talk about it, but it was very hard on me, and she is a miracle baby as she was my only hope at that time to be able to have a baby.”

When Priyanka Chopra Learned About Malti’s Premature Birth

Priyanka Chopra recalled the moment doctors informed her that Malti would be born at just 27 weeks. The news left her emotionally paralysed. “So when we were told that she was coming at 27 weeks, I shut down. I remember sitting in front of our fireplace at our house for at least 9 hours. And for someone who is always so solution-oriented, I didn’t have any thought in my brain. Nick was somewhere and he came back and he just grabbed me and we drove to the hospital.”

She described the birth as overwhelming and surreal. “It was COVID times and just the situation where she was born was so much duress for everyone involved. It was just really intense. She was purple. The NICU nurses’ little fingers were too big for her mouth. How they intubated her was… I still see that image. Thankfully, everything was fine with our surrogate, so we could focus our energy on Malti. I was just numb. I didn’t know what to do and how to be useful at that moment.”

The first days inside the NICU tested the couple’s strength. Only one parent was allowed at a time. “We went with her to the NICU. One of us was allowed at a time, and she cried the first time. It was like a cat. That’s all we got. My mom and in-laws flew down, but we were in the hospital. It was such a personally traumatic time.”

Priyanka Chopra on pressure to announce Malti’s birth

Priyanka also faced unexpected public pressure. She revealed that the news of Malti’s birth leaked before they were ready to share it. “I remember it leaked and we got a text saying that her birth is going to be put out by the papers… that if we don’t, they are going to in three hours. So we were kind of forced into announcing her birth. We wanted to hold onto our own narrative of it; we weren’t ready because we didn’t know what would happen with her or how she would be.”

Malti remained in the NICU for nearly 110 days. Priyanka and Nick Jonas reorganised their entire lives around her care. The actress revealed, “It was three months, almost 110 days. We stopped everything, were in the hospital every day and did shifts so that she could be on our skin.”

Following doctors’ advice, they focused on skin-to-skin contact. Nick sang softly to their daughter, while Priyanka played sacred mantras. She said, “Nick would sing to her on his guitar. I used to have this little iPod which played all my mantras – my Mahamrityunjay Mantra, my Gayatri Mantra, my Om Namah Shiv mantra. All of it would play all day inside her crib softly.”

Malti’s medical journey was far from easy. PeeCee added, “She was very, very desired, very coveted and treasured. It was so hard… she had like six blood transfusions. Once I got out of the shock state I was in, I realised how afraid she must have been. So I didn’t have the privilege of being upset or afraid. I had to show up as her mom and be tough for her.”

Priyanka Chopra also remembered the first time she held Malti close. “When she was on my chest for the first time… she was so tiny that her fingers felt like butterflies on me. She was 1 pound and 11 ounces and in that moment I was like, I will go to the ends of the world to protect you.”

Today, that fierce protectiveness continues to influence her work. Priyanka Chopra currently stars in The Bluff, which premiered on Amazon Prime Video on February 25, 2026. The film explores motherhood through her character, Bloody Mary, a former pirate determined to protect her child. Priyanka has shared that her portrayal was fuelled by her own lived emotions, tapping into what she calls a “protective rage.”