§ 36-9C-13 — Practice in out-of-hospital setting.

For the purposes of this chapter, the practice of a certified professional midwife is the management and care of the low-risk mother-baby unit in an out-of-hospital setting during pregnancy, labor, delivery, and postpartum periods. A certified professional midwife may perform the following scope of practice in an out-of-hospital setting including a licensed birth center: (1) Initial and ongoing assessment for suitability of midwifery care including assessment of risk; (2) Prenatal care, including the routine monitoring of vital signs, indicators of fetal development, and ordering of routine prenatal laboratory tests; (3) Recognizing the limits of knowledge and experience, planning for situations beyond expertise, and consulting with, or referring or transporting clients to other licensed health care providers as appropriate; (4) Attending and supporting the natural process of labor and birth; (5) Postpartum care of the mother and an initial assessment and screening of the newborn; (6) Providing prenatal education, information, and referrals to community resources on childbirth preparation, breastfeeding, exercise, nutrition, parenting, and care of the newborn; (7) Limited prescriptive authority to administer: (a) Vitamin K to the baby either orally or through intramuscular injection; (b) Postpartum antihemorrhagic medication in an emergency situation; (c) Local anesthetic for repair of a first or second degree perineal laceration; (d) IV antibiotics for treatment of Group B strep during labor; (e) Oxygen; (f) Eye prophylaxis; (g) RhoGam; and (8) Preparing and filing of a birth certificate pursuant to § 34-25-9.1 .

Legislative History

SL 2017, ch 172, § 13.