How Becoming a Mom During Residency Shaped How this Pediatrician Cares for Patients

Mary Beth Hulin, MD, is a pediatrician at Ochsner Health in Long Beach, Mississippi. When not at work, you can find Dr. Hulin working on a new quilt or spending quality time with her kids and her cats.

Dr. Hulin had her oldest child about a month into her pediatric residency, so she learned how to be a parent and a pediatrician at the same time.

"I very much learned how to be a parent and how to be a pediatrician simultaneously and I think that’s really informed how I approach a lot of patients because not everything is in a textbook," she said. "It comes from experience, particularly working with kids."

Dr. Hulin said the more face to face time you spend with your child, the more they’ll thrive developmentally. 

"You can sit on the floor and read to them or play," she said. "You can also narrate what you’re doing to your baby or child. Something as simple as telling them you’re getting ready for work or leashing up the dog for a walk can be educational."

Dr. Hulin provides pediatric primary care services, and has a special clinical interest in breastfeeding and provision of breastfeeding support for mothers. In her free time, she enjoys reading, cooking and quilting.

For three consecutive years, Ochsner Children’s is ranked No. 1 in Louisiana and among the nation’s top 50 children’s hospitals by U.S. News & World Report.