Priyanka Chopra says she and Nick Jonas spent 'every single day' in the NICU with their daughter for 3 months and 'didn't know if she would make it or not'

• Priyanka Chopra Jonas spoke about her and Nick Jonas' daughter in a cover story for British Vogue.
• Chopra Jonas said that she and her husband spent every day for three months in the NICU with their baby.
• "I didn't know if she would make it or not," the actor said. 

Priyanka Chopra Jonas opened up about the premature birth of her and Nick Jonas' baby girl, Malti Marie, and said that they didn't know if their child would survive. 

"We spent every single day with her on my chest, on my husband's chest," Chopra Jonas said of being in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for three months in her cover story for the February 2023 issue of British Vogue, released on Thursday. "I didn't know if she would make it or not." 

Their daughter was born three months early and Chopra Jonas recalled the child being "so small, smaller than my hand," at the time.

"I saw what the intensive-care nurses do. They do God's work," she said. "Nick and I were both standing there as they intubated her. I don't know how they even found what they needed [in her tiny body] to intubate her."

The "Quantico" star's British Vogue feature marked the first time she's opened up about motherhood in such detail, following the birth of her daughter via surrogate in January 2022. 

The couple, who got married in late 2018 at Umaid Bhawan Palace, Jodhpur, in India during two extravagant ceremonies, had spoken about their desire to be parents in various interviews.

Chopra Jonas and the singer revealed the birth of their baby in a statement shared on their separate Instagram accounts on January 21, 2022.

"We are overjoyed to confirm that we have welcomed a baby via surrogate," they said. "We respectfully ask for privacy during this special time as we focus on our family. Thank you so much."

At the time, they didn't disclose additional details about their newborn. A birth certificate obtained by TMZ three months later revealed the child's name and details of her birth (she was born after 8 p.m. on January 15, 2022, at a hospital in San Diego). 

Jonas shared more insight into the "rollercoaster" experience of parenthood in an Instagram post honoring his wife on Mother's Day. 

"After 100 plus days in the NICU, our little girl is finally home," he said. Every family's journey is unique and requires a certain level of faith, and while ours was a challenging few months, what becomes abundantly clear, in retrospect, is how precious and perfect every moment is."

Since then, the stars have continued to gush about their baby on social media, but they've refrained from showing her face in an effort to protect her privacy. 

Chopra Jonas told British Vogue that she's developed a thick skin to deal with criticism and judgment, but it was "painful" when people speculated about her and Jonas' reason for choosing surrogacy.

"You don't know me," Chopra Jonas said. "You don't know what I've been through. And just because I don't want to make my medical history, or my daughter's, public doesn't give you the right to make up whatever the reasons were." 

The "Matrix Resurrections" star didn't disclose specifics about the couple's situation, but said that she "had medical complications," so surrogacy was "a necessary step, and I'm so grateful I was in a position where I could do this. Our surrogate was so generous, kind, lovely and funny, and she took care of this precious gift for us for six months."