MEAC Accredited Midwifery School and Birth Center

Maternidad La Luz is a community-based, state licensed birth center and Texas Department of Health approved midwifery school, accredited by the Midwifery Education Accreditation Council (MEAC).  Since its inception in 1987, Maternidad La Luz has been both a birth center and a school of midwifery.  This dynamic partnership benefits the birthing woman as well as the student.  Maternidad La Luz clients receive excellent clinical care in a warm, supportive environment, and the students have outstanding midwifery education and training in a hands-on setting, supervised by the experienced Maternidad La Luz staff.

Through an integrated model of academic and clinical training, Maternidad La Luz offers a unique and holistic learning experience for aspiring midwives.  The educational program, provided within a busy birthing center, allows students to solidify clinical skills while integrating their academic learning.  A student at Maternidad La Luz begins learning midwifery theory and midwifery skills the first day of classes.  Maternidad La Luz is the only MEAC-accredited school in the United States which provides all necessary clinical experience on-site with no extra fees or time included.

The school is located in a comfortable house in an historic neighborhood of El Paso.  The birth center is on the same block in a two-story house which includes three birthing rooms.  The center provides a warm, welcoming, homelike atmosphere for birthing women in Western Texas, Southern New Mexico, and Mexico.

A large percentage of the population of El Paso is Mexican nationals.  Many people living in the border region have no medical insurance and limited or no access to medical care.  Maternidad La Luz is able to provide low cost, high quality care for all pregnant women in the community, regardless of nationality or residency status.  As a result, ninety-five percent of women who come to Maternidad La Luz speak primarily Spanish.

The staff and students at Maternidad La Luz care for approximately sixty birthing women a month.  Since 1987, they have attended over 10,000 births at the center.