AceShowbiz - Priyanka Chopra Jonas had no clue if her daughter would survive after she was born prematurely. The 40-year-old actress and her husband Nick Jonas welcomed a baby girl via a surrogate in January 2022, but Malti's life hung in the balance for the first three months after she was born a full trimester before her due date.

"I was in the operating room when she came out. She was so small, smaller than my hand ... I saw what the intensive-care nurses do. They do God's work. 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," Priyanka shared.

Priyanka and Nick, 30, spent every day for three months with Malti in a neonatal intensive care unit amid the COVID-19 pandemic. And at the time, her daughter's life hung in the balance.

The actress - who married Nick in 2018 - told British Vogue magazine, "We spent every single day with her on my chest, on my husband's chest. I didn't know if she would make it or not."

Priyanka was accused of "outsourcing" her pregnancy and acquiring a "ready-made baby" after revealing her surrogacy. The "Baywatch" star now admits that the criticism was "painful." She shared, "I've developed a tough hide when people talk about me."

"But it's so painful when they talk about my daughter. I'm like, 'Keep her out of it.' I know what it felt like to hold her little hands when they were trying to find her veins. So no, she's not going to be gossip. I've been really protective of this chapter of my life with my daughter. Because it's not about my life only. It's hers too."

Priyanka also explained that she turned to a surrogate after experiencing "medical complications." She added, "This 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."