Professional Standing & Alumnae Policy

I. BIENNIAL RECERTIFICATION AND PROFESSIONAL STANDING POLICY
To maintain your active status in our Birth Assistant Directory, all graduates must undergo formal recertification every two years. To complete your renewal, you must fulfill the requirements of one of the following two professional pathways:

Pathway One: The Clinical Refresher Recertification ($97 USD): An online track requiring the successful completion of an online refresher modules in Bloodborne Pathogens & OSHA (Module 5), HIPAA (Module 6), The Birth Assistant’s Role During Labor & Birth (Module 13), The Birth Assistant’s Role During Immediate Postpartum (Module 14), and Handling Obstetrical Emergencies (Module 16).

[Enroll in the Clinical Refresher Recertification Track Here]

Pathway Two: The Clinical Intensive Recertification ($1,500 USD): An 18-hour in-person skills training track for direct 1:1 evaluation, assessment, and peer networking during our scheduled clinical skills sessions in Central Florida. This comprehensive track requires a non-refundable $500 USD enrollment deposit to secure a placement and fully inclusive of the Clinical Refresher Recertification modules outlined in Pathway One.

Track Availability & Deposit Policy: Access to this track requires a non-refundable $500 USD enrollment deposit to secure your seat. However, this deposit is 100% fully refundable if the required minimum cohort size of three (3) alumnae are not successfully met by our cutoff date. These sessions are hosted on an on-demand basis for small cohorts (minimum of 3, maximum of 6) during our scheduled January or July sessions. Eligible alumnae must submit a formal registration request directly to our admissions desk at support@blacksistersbirth.com to verify cohort availability and secure a seat.

Note: Failure to successfully complete an approved recertification pathway prior to your two (2) year expiration date will result in the immediate transition to inactive status and the automatic removal of your profile from our public directory. Your active placement will be restored immediately upon verification of your renewal criteria. [For full details on reactivation steps, and file retention timelines, please refer directly to Section II: Record Retention and Data Privacy, and Section IV: Inactive Status and Removal].

II. RECORD RETENTION AND DATA PRIVACY

To maintain the security, compliance, and efficiency of our data systems, the following administrative limits apply:

Five-Year Retention: Black Sisters Birth Academy® maintains digital records of your program completion, certification metrics, and evaluation scores for five (5) years from your graduation date. Following this window, files are permanently deleted and record availability is no longer guaranteed. Graduates are responsible for maintaining personal backups of their Certificate of Completion.

Accessing Your Academy Legacy: Active or inactive graduates within their five (5) year retention window may request an enrollment and completion verification, or a certified replacement Certificate of Completion, by emailing our administration desk directly at: support@blacksistersbirth.com. All archival duplication and verification requests are subject to a $15 USD administration processing fee.

III. ENDORSEMENT AND RECOMMENDATION ELIGIBILITY
Professional endorsements and letters from Academy Director Midwife Christina Jemine are an institutional courtesy reserved exclusively for graduates whose clinical and interpersonal skills have been personally verified.

Hybrid Program and Clinical Intensive Recertification Eligibility: Due to the clinical necessity of evaluating hands-on bedside and interpersonal safety, only graduates of our Hybrid Program or our Clinical Intensive Recertification sessions are eligible to receive professional letters of recommendation or institutional endorsements.

The Three-Year Rule: To ensure our clinical assessment remains current and relevant for hiring partners, academic institutions, and scholarship committees, all requests for recommendations or professional endorsements must be submitted within three (3) years of your graduation or your Clinical Intensive Recertification date.

IV. INACTIVE STATUS AND REMOVAL
Graduates who do not successfully complete an approved recertification pathway prior to their two-year expiration date will be automatically transitioned to inactive status.

Directory Removal: Your profile will be immediately removed from the Birth Assistant Directory to protect the clinical integrity and validation standards of our hiring partners (community midwives and free-standing birth centers).

Reactivation Path: You may reactivate your professional standing at any point within your five (5) year record retention window by successfully completing The Clinical Refresher Recertification ($97 USD) track. Once verified, your active directory placement will be fully restored.

Questions? Email us at support@blacksistersbirth.com.

Last Updated: October 1, 2026