Fredericksburg Parent

10 Fredericksburg Parent and Family • October 2025 From the newborn days until it's time to leave the nest, your child's pediatrician is an important partner in healthy growth and development. The Mary Washington Pediatrics team of board- certified pediatricians is dedicated to providing compassionate care from five different locations conveniently located throughout the Fredericksburg region. Dr. Nicole A. Kelly, MD, CLC, and Dr. Hala Hasan, MD, are two members of the Mary Washington team who are passionate about helping families and children lay a foundation for a lifetime of good health. As our October experts, they answer questions about their work and the importance of the parent-pedia- trician relationship. Q: What drew you to work in pediatrics? Dr. Kelly: What I enjoy most about pediatrics is building relation- ships and keeping kids healthy. I've always been interested in pri- mary care and focusing on preventative medicine. In pediatrics, that is a lot of what we get to do. We see families through every stage of growth, from when they come out of the hospital with their new- borns up until they are becoming adults. I love building that kind of long-term connection with families so that they feel comfortable raising any concerns, and we can work on those as a team together. Dr. Hasan: I have a passion for education, and love to break down complex medical topics and make them easier to understand for families. Pediatrics enables me to partner with parents and be one more person on their side, encouraging them along the way when they feel stressed and helping them stay as informed as possible so that they can make the best decisions for their kids. They're only with us for a limited amount of time, so as much information as I can provide them to feel confident that they know how to keep their kids healthy, that's what I love to do. Q: What are the benefits of having an established relationship with a pediatrician, versus visiting urgent care or different provid- ers each time a child has a healthcare need? Dr. Kelly: When we as providers have the opportunity to follow a patient over a long time, we get to know your family, your prefer- ences, how you may feel about different things that come up in terms of schooling, vaccination or medication administration. We can work together to treat your child and prevent diseases with your family's preferences in mind. When you choose a provider within the Mary Washington Medical Group, you gain access to a network of practices. When health- care needs come up that can't be immediately accommodated by a pediatrician's schedule, Mary Washington Primary Care, located on Executive Center Parkway in Fredericksburg, has a pediatrics walk-in clinic that can provide immediate care, with seamless com- munication relayed to your regular provider. Q: How important are annual well checks for children, especially as they get into the adolescent years? Dr. Hasan: I like to use the school-age and adolescent visits to give the patients a chance to ask questions, and to learn a little bit more about their health history. This is good practice for children to have so that later on when they are older and they don't have their parents coming to doctor visits with them, they can know how to advocate for themselves, and they have a little bit more health literacy than they otherwise would. WRITTEN BY EMILY FREEHLING sponsored material From Newborn to Teen: Why the Parent-Pediatrician Partnership Matters Mary Washington Pediatrics

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