Description of Course
Dar la Luz Midwifery Studies is a DHEC Midwifery Council approved course for the teaching of the educational component for aspiring Licensed Midwives. It has a Christian service and Bible study emphasis included within the course. The course consists of eight quarters of midwifery courses preceeded by prerequisites of advanced biology, childbirth education methods, breastfeeding education, and doula training. The preliminary work will be conducted as a separate quarter before the midwifery training begins.
The course is designed for a weekly seven hour class with assignments given to students to study and prepare for teaching
in class. The student should be prepared to spend 4 - 8 hours outside of class in preparation for class and studying for quizzes. There are biweekly quizzes that are sent home with the students over the course of 9 weeks and an in-class closed book exam at the end of the quarter. This type of course provides the best understanding of the material but also requires maturity and self-motivation on the part of the student as everyone in the class depends on each one to be well prepared and participating.
South Carolina Licensing
Training for Licensed Midwives consists of a didactic (educational) component and an apprenticeship (clinical) component.
Dar la Luz provides the didactic component but apprenticeship must be arranged by the student with another midwife or doctor. Dar la Luz will assist with names of midwives in the area but cannot guarantee that an apprenticeship can be obtained. Certainly, having the educational component underway makes a potential apprentice more valuable to a potential midwife preceptor and makes it more likely that that the student can obtain an apprenticeship. The student may practice as an apprentice while she is studying or after she has completed the educational component. The student would need to discuss time commitments of the apprenticeship with the midwifery preceptor.
Once the apprentice has successfully completed the educational and apprenticeship trainings, she applies to DHEC -- Division of Health Licensing for a license. She will then take the national Certified Professional Midwives exam. After successful completion of the exam, the candidate will sit for an oral exam with a Licensed Midwife, a Certified Nurse Midwife, and a doctor. Upon successful completion, she is granted a SC license and may provide prenatal and delivery care to low risk women in South Carolina under Regulation 61-24, Regulations for Licensing Midwives , www.scdhec.gov/hr/licen/hrlicmw.htm . Most Licensed Midwives currently working in SC work in the home or out-of-hospital birth center areas.
Certified Professional Midwife -- National Certification
If the Licensed Midwife wishes, she may also apply for national certification for the CPM (Certified Professional Midwife) by documenting supervision of 5 additional births and applying to the North American Registry of Midwives. Those wishing to work as a CPM, Certified Professional Midwife, in other states should investigate the licensing processes in those states to determine if the CPM is recognized there. www.narm.org
Cost per quarter -- Dar la Luz Midwifery Studies
$500 tuition per quarter (8 quarters)
$15 supplies cost
$250 is due upon registration and is nonrefundable.
$265 is due upon the first day of class and is non refundable after the first week of class.
Textbooks are an additional cost to the student.
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