NEED TO KNOW
- Mandy Moore recalls when her sons were both diagnosed with RSV in 2023 in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE
- “It was a super helpless feeling,” the actress admits, also highlighting how the scary health ordeal changed her parenting outlook
- Moore and husband Taylor Goldsmith are parents to three children — sons August “Gus” Harrison and Oscar “Ozzie” Bennett, plus daughter Louise “Lou” Everett
Mandy Moore faced a scary situation involving her sons’ health years ago, which left her shaken to the core. But, it better prepared her for the future and changed her overall approach to being a mom.
In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, the actress, 41, recalls when her sons — August “Gus” Harrison and Oscar “Ozzie” Bennett — were both diagnosed with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) at the same time in 2023.
“It was a super helpless feeling,” Moore candidly admits of the emotions she felt at the time. “I mean, we were lucky in the sense that it didn’t include a hospital tripbut my husband and I were still really shook and very concerned.”
After the scary health ordeal, and when Moore and her husband Taylor Goldsmith were expecting their third baby, daughter Louise “Lou” Everettthe couple knew they wanted to be proactive this time around.
“Even though Lou was going to be born in September, which is technically before the start of RSV season, which runs from fall to spring in the majority of the country, we were determined to find some sort of solution, so we talked to Dr. Danny Brucknerour pediatrician, and he was adamant that no matter when a baby is born, even if it’s before or during the RSV season, it’s really, really important to have an extra layer of protection.”
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Mandy Moore/Instagram
That “extra layer of protection,” Moore says, is Beyfortusa monoclonal antibody medication used to prevent infants and young children from getting RSV.
“Lou was lucky to get the very first appointment on Oct. 1. She got immunized, and I was unbelievably reassured and relieved, knowing that she was going to be protected through her first RSV season,” the award-winning actress recalls. “I mean, as a parent, I feel like it really is the best possible situation — you learn from your mistakes, and I feel like this go-around, I was even more prepared.”
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Now, Moore and her pediatrician have partnered with pharmaceutical and healthcare company Sanofi to inspire parents to make sure their children are also protected during the colder months of the year, when RSV strikes.
“When it comes to your baby’s health, it’s a really, really personal choice and decision, and I just would implore everyone to have that conversation with their family and, most importantly, with their doctor, and decide what’s best for them,” Moore says, as Dr. Bruckner adds, “In previous seasons, before we were allowed to give Beyfortus, we used to have to hospitalize five to 10 babies a winter for this, and since we’ve been giving Beyfortus, I have yet to hospitalize one baby with RSV.”
Sanofi
Through her partnership with Sanofi to promote Beyfortus, which is also known as nirsevimab-alip, Moore has teamed up with other celebrity moms — chef Gaby Dalkinjournalist Elaine Welterothgymnast Shawn Johnson East and astronaut A frog of Chazarreta — to form a “Mom Squad” with a shared goal of protecting their babies from RSV — and encouraging other families to do the same.
“I think moms have to lean on each other. Nobody gets it like another mom, so that’s why it’s been such a gift to be able to lean on my friends in this particular mom squad,” the This Is Us star says.
“I think we all kind of have this shared goal of caring about new and expecting parents, and, in particular, being able to talk about everything, especially the health of our kids,” she continues. “Nothing matters more, so being able to share this information that we have and help people protect their babies against RSV; it really goes a long way.”
Overall, being able to lean on fellow moms for anything and everything in her life, Moore tells PEOPLE, is an experience like no other.
“There’s just something about the collective chaos that parents endure together that makes them especially equipped to handle anything,” she says. “It’s so much fun to be able to lean on those kinds of friends … and I feel like the friendships that I’ve made since becoming a mom are deeper than anything I ever expected, and I’m so unendingly grateful for them.”