‘Doctor Moms’: Physician coauthors children’s book about balancing motherhood and medicine

Published on Monday, July 22, 2024

By: Gary Pettus, gpettus@umc.edu

Photos By: Joe Ellis/ UMMC Communications

This past Mother’s Day, Dr. Ardarian Pierre, who already had four children, welcomed another issue into the world: an 11-ounce labor of love named “Doctor Moms.”

It may be a newborn, but even so, with 14 illustrations and more than 350 words, it has a lot to say.

The 24-page book, written for children up to age 10, explains how moms get to be physicians, why they wanted to be physicians, what their day away from home is like as physicians – and, as moms, how much they love seeing their kids again when that day is done.

Pierre, an assistant professor of family medicine-geriatrics at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, shares “Doctor Moms” parentage with her friend and mother of two sons, Dr. Charlene Collier, an obstetrician/gynecologist at Haven in Ridgeland.

“One day in early 2021, Charlene told me, ‘Ardarian, I think I wrote a book,’” Pierre recalled. “She brought it to me and I saw that she had a draft.

“I said, ‘We have to complete it and make it real.’”

Lately, Pierre had mostly written prescriptions – and for people of all ages. The family medicine physician had also completed a fellowship at UMMC in geriatrics and gerontology. But, back in her Lee County hometown of Verona, folks can be forgiven for thinking, to this day, that she’s a pediatrician.

“That’s because, from the time I was 5, I said I was going to be one,” Pierre said. “My pediatrician in Tupelo was my inspiration. He was amazing and so much fun, and I believe he had at least eight kids of his own.

“I decided I wanted to be able to bless children the way he did.”

But fate had already put a slight crimp in her pediatrician plans. “I was very close to my grandparents,” said Pierre, who grew up in a blended family, including three siblings on her mom’s side. “I couldn’t imagine anyone not wanting to spend time with their older loved ones.”

In college, Pierre minored in music, but set her mind on medical school. In 2014, she earned her medical degree at American University of Antigua and left for her residency at UMMC.

“I had found by then that I liked the diversity offered by family medicine – I can see children, moms, dads and grandparents,” she said. “The whole family. I’m very family-oriented.”

This became clear to everyone during her residency, which coincided with her husband’s. She and Dr. David Pierre, now a hospitalist in Jackson, have four children ranging in age from 5 to 11. 

“We were both training at UMMC and having all those babies,” Ardarian Pierre said. “That’s what people knew us for.” Three of the babies were delivered by her future coauthor: Charlene Collier. And now, she and Pierre have, together, made a delivery called “Doctor Moms.”

“For a while, I had wanted to write a book of healthy recipes for children,” Pierre said. “But COVID came along in 2020 and that didn’t happen. Early the next year, I caught up with Charlene.”

Collier, as a physician, has taken care of her friend, and Pierre, as a physician, has taken care of her friend’s parents. “I am their primary care physician,” Pierre said. “And Charlene is still my ob.

“She is the epitome of the perfect obstetrician – thorough, loving, kind. But, because we have so much in common, we also became friends.” This connection grew even deeper after Collier revealed her idea for the book: a story that, as the back-cover blurb explains, teaches “children about the incredible work Doctor Moms do balancing motherhood and a medical career.”

“She invited me on this journey to write a book,” Pierre said, “and while a few years may seem like a long time to write one that doesn’t have a lot of pages, aligning our schedules was a big challenge.

“Sometimes, late at night or early in the morning before our kids woke up, we would be texting. It took a lot of sacrifice and determination.”

It certainly took a lot of determination to light on the right illustrator. “We went through a number of them, but we finally found him,” Pierre said.

To Dr. Sonya Shipley, the “Doctor Moms” drawings by Ananta Mohanta are “profoundly beautiful.”

“I believe this book speaks to the kid in all of us,” said Shipley, Pierre’s colleague and friend and part-time family medicine physician at UMMC.

“Even at 41 years old, I immediately started smiling when I opened the book, because many of the doctors in it look like me,” said Shipley, who has read “Doctor Moms” with her 8-year-old daughter, Anna Rae.

“But they also look like some of my other friends who are of other, diverse backgrounds. I love it that kids can look in this book and see parents who look like their parents. It’s much easier to imagine that you can be what you can see.

“And, it’s not just for children who want to become doctors. It’s an incredibly important part of the human experience to be exposed to different topics; it shapes us to be well-rounded, global citizens who understand others’ place in the world. It makes us more compassionate.”

“Doctor Moms” is published by an Atlanta company, Journal Joy, which is run one of Collier’s best friends. It’s dedicated to the authors’ moms, as well as to their husbands and, of course, to the people for whom they wrote it.

“We’re telling our children, ‘I am proud of you, and you should be proud of me,’” Pierre said. “‘Please know I am missing you and loving you when I am away. And that everyone is happy when mom is back at home.’”