Dr. Laura Taylor Pridemore

My route to becoming a pediatrician was a circuitous one. I used to be a lawyer. \n After earning a business administration degree at Wesleyan College, I went to Mercer University Walter F. George School of Law and served as editor-in-chief of the Law Review my last year. I practiced law for four years before following in my dad's footsteps and going into medicine. \n I returned to Mercer - this time for medical school - and was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha national medical honor society and earned senior awards for pediatrics, psychiatry and anesthesiology. \n I came to Charlotte for my residency and was chief resident my last year. I've been a board-certified pediatrician with Novant Health since 2001. I completed a second board certification from the American College of Lifestyle Medicine in 2022. \n The best medicine, the saying goes, is prevention. I believe that strongly. And optimizing lifestyle habits goes a long way toward disease prevention. The six pillars of lifestyle …medicine are eating a mostly unprocessed, whole food, plant-based diet; exercising daily; maintaining consistent sleep; managing stress; maintaining quality social support and avoiding risky substances. \n Adopting those habits has been shown to significantly decrease the incidence of common chronic health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity, most cases of dementia and even some types of cancer. My motto is Eat, move, rest, connect. I share that with parents and children as we work to establish beneficial habits that promote health in body, mind and soul. \n Outside work, I love to spend time with my husband, our two daughters, our three fur babies - two English Golden Retrievers - and our cat. I love traveling, reading about lifestyle medicine, cooking, being in nature, writing, playing my crystal sound bowls and practicing yoga. In 2023, I completed a 200-hour yoga teacher certification training. I'm now enrolled in mindfulness meditation teacher certification and hope to have my certification in 2025.