EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – Home isn’t always a place.
Sometimes it’s the reassuring weight of a familiar hand. Sometimes it’s a familiar face. Sometimes, it’s a quiet service dog lying beside an expectant mother during labor.
At the 96th Medical Group, those moments are part of a broader commitment to providing safe, high-quality care tailored to their patients.
For Schelby Hollon, the assurance her service dog, Jack, would be allowed in the labor and delivery room offered a sense of peace as she prepares to welcome her new baby.
“Knowing I can have my service dog in the room with me ... means I won’t have to face such an important medical event without the support I rely on every single day,” said Hollon, who is currently 34 weeks pregnant. “Jack perfectly handles my periods of extreme heightened stress and anxiety in ways that are beyond gentle, calm, and compassionate.”
That bond extends to her daily prenatal journey. According to Hollon, Jack instinctively senses her emotional needs and physical changes, a partnership the 96th MDG staff has actively welcomed during her clinic visits.
“The entire medical team has been extremely supportive, considerate, and kind,” said Hollon. “They have always been welcoming to Jack and consistently make a point to speak to him. He greatly appreciates the snacks he gets on occasion from the nurses, and so do I, because it shows him that he’s doing a great job.”
Ensuring patients like Hollon have tailored care plans in place falls to clinical providers like Maj. Corrie Secord, 96th MDG certified nurse midwife.
“I know what it’s like to raise a family while balancing the demands of military life,” said Secord. “Many young families expect [military healthcare] to be rigid, where everything must be done a certain way, but that’s not our approach. We are here to provide the best care possible while meeting patients where they are.”
Beyond the Delivery Room: Comprehensive OB/GYN Care
The philosophy of flexibility extends far beyond the delivery room. The 96th Inpatient Squadron Maternal Child Flight offers customized care schedules, telehealth options, and virtual appointments to help patients bypass travel barriers and busy schedules.
The clinic’s nursing triage system can handle virtual care, order interim lab work, and bridge prescription refills. Whether saving a family a long drive or safely coordinating a service animal's presence in a sterile delivery room, the 96th MDG relies on highly synchronized protocols to remove barriers to care.
Behind the Scenes: Safety, Policy, and Empathy
Accommodating a service animal in labor and delivery requires a meticulous, multi-department effort. Under the 96th MDG’s local instruction on service animals, service animals are permitted in nearly all areas of the hospital with the health and safety of patients and staff being paramount.
However, facility officials emphasize a critical distinction for patients planning their visits: while ADA-compliant service animals like Jack are welcome, emotional support animals are not. According to 96th MDG policy, a service animal is individually trained to perform specific tasks or do work for a person with a disability. Animals whose sole function is to provide comfort, companionship, or emotional support do not meet this standard. Due to the strict sanitation and safety needs of the medical mission—including infection control—pets and emotional support animals are not permitted inside the facility.
"Essentially, a service animal can go anywhere in the MDG except in peri-operative, food service, sterile processing, or patients on isolation precautions areas, but some of these can be waived at patient request and physician/surgeon approval," said Ferdinand Blaine, a 96th MDG Infection Preventionist. "In fact, with the permission of the surgeon, they are even allowed in an operating room to aid the staff in monitoring the patient if they choose."
This extends directly to the labor room. Blaine noted that from an infection control standpoint, the service animal and the patient are viewed as one team.
"Respectfully, there is no special requirement, as in fact the service animal could even get in bed with the patient," Blaine explained. "We consider the service animal and patient as one team together always. Once the patient and service animal are discharged, the room gets a thorough cleaning."
To maintain the safety and focus of the clinical staff during active labor, the hospital's policy clearly outlines handler responsibilities.
"During active labor, the service animal owner designates whom they appoint to handle the service animal," Blaine said. "Our staff do not handle nor care for the service animal."
For Maj. Larry Sutterfield, the 96th MDG patient advocate, putting in extra coordination to execute these policies is a fundamental part of the military medical mission.
“Cases like these really show how, going the extra mile, military medicine performs exceptional care to our patients daily,” said Sutterfield. “The military family is unique, and we understand each other because we have that common military bond of sacrifice for our country, so we take care of each other with a bit more empathy.”
The 96th MDG staff’s ability to accommodate individual patient needs ensure new mothers don’t have to navigate this milestone alone.
📞 Get Connected with Care
- To schedule an appointment or explore telehealth options: Contact the Central Appointment Line at 850-883-8600.
- To discuss birth plans or special clinical accommodation: Contact the Patient Advocate Office at 850-883-9042.