Where families are born.

Women's Services

Experience Matters

More than 40,500 babies have been born here since we opened our doors in 1974. Nobody in our area has done it longer – or with more compassion.  When it comes to having babies, experience matters, and our physicians and nurses have the experience that matters to you and your baby. 

We are here for you...

We also have a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (Level II) for premature infants, or those needing additional care. When a premature childbirth is anticipated or a mother is considered high-risk, our neonatologists and peri-neonatologists are available to consult with parents and address their questions and concerns. Babies who have to stay at the hospital once mom is discharged can still have their family nearby.  More than 800 families can tell you what this NICU has meant to them and their families since the unit opened in 2007. We hope you never need this service, but it’s good to know it’s there when you need it.

You’ll call it wonderful... we call it couplet care

We understand that your baby belongs to you, to your family, and not to the hospital. We are committed to giving each of you the education and support your family needs to welcome your new baby into your lives.
Mother-baby care, or couplet care, is not the same as rooming in, where you are expected to care for your baby by yourself after childbirth. Instead, the same nurse cares for both mom and baby in the comfort and convenience of her room. As the mother, it is your decision when your baby leaves your room.

What are the benefits of couplet care?

  • Smoother adjustment
  • Better communication
  • More confidence through better education
  • Peace of mind having your baby at your side
  • Breastfeeding is easier and likely to be more successful
  • Your baby will cry less and be more stable at your side
  • No special moments are missed 
  • Family bonding is promoted

Safe & secure

A new state-of-the-art infant security system enhances your baby’s safety and your peace of mind. Fort Walton Beach Medical Center recently installed the Hugs and Kisses® Infant Protection System to safeguard its infants and children.
 “The Hugs and Kisses® system has been configured to operate in a number of ways to add multiple layers to our infant security program,” says Marian Bach, the Administrative Director of Women's and Children's Services.

Each infant wears a comfortable and unobtrusive Hugs tag attached by the means of a soft tamper-proof strap around his or her ankle.  Alarms are generated if the strap is cut or tampered with, if the infant is moved to an unauthorized zone, or if the tag's signal is no longer detected.  The system activates security cameras which record activity at the door at the time of the alarm and one minute prior to the alarm.

"In the event of an attempted abduction, the Hugs system will immediately inform security and our nursing staff as to precisely where the alarm has occurred," says Melanie Salsgiver, Chief Nursing Officer.  "This information is vital to ensuring a quick response in the event of an abduction attempt."

Fort Walton Beach Medical Center also implemented the Kisses® component of the Hugs system which provides automatic mother/infant matching notification.  Each mother is given a small tag (the Kisses tag) that is bonded with her infant’s Hugs tag at birth.  From that point forward, the tags remain bonded throughout their stay in the hospital.  Nurses are immediately alerted of a mismatch with an audible indicator.

H2U Women blog
Daily Waddle We've created an online maternity care community just for you. Take a peek inside for tips, ideas, and information on a variety of topics close to your heart -- and your belly. Visit thedailywaddle.com!

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