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Professional Certified Standards of Practice

Services Provided by Professional Birth Arts International Certified Provider

     A Birth Arts International professional accompanies the woman in labor, providing emotional and physical support. The provider suggests comfort measures, provides support and suggestions for the partner. When possible, the doula provides pre- and post-partum education, resources, emotional support, to include information on practices and procedures, and information that can assist in the client making informed decisions about her care. Furthermore, doulas do not “prescribe” treatment, suggestions, advice or information made available within the function of the doula must be done with the provision that the doula recommends the client to confirm/confer/communicate/advise her primary care provider of her choice before using any application, therapy or treatment that could influence her pregnancy or health.

Limits to Practice- Doulas do not practice medicine or midwifery and do not diagnose or prescribe. Doulas, that practice as adjunct practitioners, must in addition practice under their organizing body’s regulating practice. Doulas do not perform clinical tasks, like labor assessment, blood pressure, administration of drugs or medical tasks for the mother. The doula will not alter or augment treatment.

Referrals- If the doula cannot provide services she will refer the client to the care that is needed.

Postpartum Doulas

Services Provided. The postpartum doula cares for the mother and family in their home during the postpartum period. The postpartum doula offers evidence-based education on infant feeding, emotional and physical recovery from childbirth, and other issues associated with the postpartum period including postpartum mood disorders.

Limits of Practice: Postpartum Doula Standards apply to emotional, physical and educational support only. The certified postpartum doula does not perform clinical or medical tasks, such as taking temperatures, blood pressure check, dosing medicine or any other type of postpartum clinical care. The doula will state concerns to the family about any family member, including the baby.

Referrals. For client needs beyond the scope of the doula’s training, referrals will be made to appropriate resources.

Childbirth Educator

Services Provided: Offer culturally and community-based childbirth education. Promote safe and healthy pregnancy and birth practices.

Making sure the needs of the community are addressed and served, that she is teaching too. Offering extensive education based resources and referrals to services the family may need.

Limits of Practice: Does not offer medical or clinical advice.

Referrals. For client needs beyond the scope of the CBE’s training, referrals will be made to appropriate resources.

Breastfeeding Educator

Services Provided: To be knowledgeable in the area of breastfeeding & lactation and are able to assist with breastfeeding education and support. Promote safe and manageable breastfeeding practices. Work to educate women, and families and the community about breastfeeding and human lactation.

Assist in facilitating the advancement of policies that protect, promote and support breastfeeding and act as an advocate for breastfeeding as normal and natural. The educator provides holistic support, evidence-based breastfeeding assistance, and care, from preconception to weaning, for women and their families.

Limits of Practice: Does not offer medical or clinical advice. Offer appropriate education and to not overstep educational scope, and refer when needed.

Referrals. For client requirements beyond the scope of the LEC’s training, referrals will be made to appropriate resources.

Limits to Practice

Birth Arts International (BAI) Practitioners do not practice medicine, offer clinical assessments or offer medical advice, they provide informational services. If a doula is providing these skills, she is not practicing as a Birth Arts International Doula.

Advocacy

Birth Arts International Doulas act as advocates; they do not act as decision makers for clients. All health care choices are made by the client and not the doula. All communication referring to health care decisions are made by the client to their primary health care provider. Advocates do not speak for the client but offer education and support.

Referrals

All Birth Arts International providers are advised to refer to the appropriate service provider for all care outside of the scope of practice. Providers should also refer to other providers if the client has needs better fulfilled by a better provider.

Care- Continuity

It is essential providers are able to offer Continuity of Care (COC). COC can and does include backup doula support, educating yourself to further assist a client, referring to other providers as stated in referrals, client follow-up and follow-up with backup provider if one is used in your place.

Adjunct Therapies

We understand many BAI doulas practice adjunct therapies, these should follow the therapies licensing board, or be in a separate training and practice from doula care, or on an advisement path. All doulas should advise clients to always inform care providers of all adjunct therapies utilized, to include herbals, aromatherapy, massage, homeopathic, etc.. Each woman is different and she needs to advise her primary care team of all internal medicinal, be it natural, supplements or OTC for a clearer health picture for her primary care provider.

Training

BAI requires all students to complete an extensive 350 plus page BAI training manual and workbook, additional reporting and reading requirements, attend a minimum required documented births, breastfeeding and childbirth education requirements. Please visit Birth Arts International for more information on all requirements.

Experience

Doulas and educators certified by BAI will have the knowledge and understanding as set forth in the BAI Requirements for Certification. This includes the condition of support to a minimum number of clients, positive evaluations from clients and health care providers and records of three births, including a précis, observation form and report of each birth.

Removal from Programs or Loss of Certification

If a student acts in a manner that brings the professional ethics, standards and practices of a BAI professional in question, via fraud, abuse or practicing outside of the scope of practice, they will be removed from the program, with no refunds offered, or certification will be revoked. Revoking a certification is a serious matter, and it can be caused by fraudulently doing course work, professional work or any cases of professional abuse of skills, power, etc..

Birth Arts International cannot be held liable for individual students, we are solely an education provider furnishing a certificate upon completion, and each student is a private business owner working independently for themselves.

AI-Generated Work and Regrading Fee Policy

Birth Arts International • Heart of Herbs Herbal School Demetria Clark Education LLC

1. Why we have this policy

Our certifications mean something because the work behind them is real. When you submit a client evaluation, an attendance record, or a book report, you are documenting something that actually happened: a birth you attended, a class you sat in, a book you read and thought about. That documentation is the evidence your certification rests on, and it is what our payer partners, Medicaid programs, and professional organizations trust when they recognize our graduates.

Work generated by artificial intelligence is not documentation of your experience. It is a fabrication of it. This policy explains what we consider AI-generated work, what happens when we find it, and how to get your submission back on track.

2. Who this applies to

All students enrolled in any Birth Arts International or Heart of Herbs Herbal School program, in any format (online, live, hybrid), from the date of enrollment through certification.

3. Submissions covered by this policy

This policy applies to any assignment that requires you to document facts, events, or your own direct experience, including but not limited to:

• Client evaluations and client feedback forms

• Birth, postpartum, and client-contact documentation

• Childbirth Education (CBE) class attendance records and observation reports

• Book reports and reading reflections

• Case studies, client intake summaries, and practicum logs

• Mentorship, training, and practice-hour verification

• Any submission where you attest that something occurred or that you personally did the work

Essays and reflective assignments that ask for your thinking are also covered. If the assignment is asking what you observed, did, learned, or believe, it must come from you.

4. What counts as AI-generated work

A submission is considered AI-generated when all or a substantial portion of its content was produced by an AI tool (for example, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, or similar) rather than written by you, regardless of whether you edited it afterward.

Indicators we look for include, but are not limited to:

• Descriptions of clients, births, classes, or books that are generic, factually impossible, or do not match records on file (dates, locations, instructor names, book content)

• Fabricated details, quotes, or events

• Text that is inconsistent with your prior submissions in voice, vocabulary, or depth

• Documentation that reads as a template rather than an account of a specific, real experience

• Client evaluations that appear to be written by the student rather than the client

• Results from AI-detection tools, used only as one factor alongside the review described in Section 6

What is permitted

You may use tools to:

• Check spelling and grammar

• Improve clarity of sentences you wrote yourself

• Translate your own writing if English is not your first language (please note this on your submission)

• Organize or outline your own notes

You may not use AI tools to:

• Write, draft, or generate the content of any covered submission

• Invent, embellish, or reconstruct details you do not actually remember or did not document

• Produce client evaluations, attendance documentation, or practice-hour records on a client’s or instructor’s behalf

• Summarize a book in place of reading it

If you are unsure whether a use is permitted, ask before you submit.

5. Consequences

First finding: regrading fee

If a covered submission is determined to be AI-generated:

1. The submission receives no credit.

2. A $100 regrading fee is assessed. The fee covers the additional review time required to evaluate a replacement submission and verify its documentation.

3. Once the fee is paid, you may submit replacement work. The replacement must be your own original work and may be subject to additional verification (see Section 7).

4. Program progress is paused for that assignment until the fee is paid and the replacement submission is accepted.

The fee is per submission. Multiple AI-generated submissions returned at the same time each carry their own fee.

Repeat findings

• Second finding: $100 regrading fee plus a required conversation with your program director before further submissions are accepted.

• Third finding: May result in dismissal from the program without refund, at the discretion of the school director. Certification will not be issued.

Falsified documentation

Because client evaluations, attendance records, and practice-hour logs are attestations of fact, AI-generating them is treated as falsification of records, not simply an academic shortcut. Falsified client or attendance documentation may result in immediate dismissal regardless of prior history, and previously issued credit for related work may be revoked.

6. How a determination is made

We do not rely on automated AI-detection scores alone; these tools produce false positives and can be unfair to non-native English writers and students with distinctive writing styles. Every determination involves a human review by program staff, who consider the indicators in Section 4, your submission history, and the records we hold (enrollment dates, class rosters, instructor confirmations, client contact information provided in the assignment).

Before a fee is assessed, you will receive written notice that identifies the submission and summarizes the reasons for the finding.

7. Verification of replacement work

For replacement submissions, and at our discretion for any covered submission, we may:

• Contact the client, instructor, or facility named in your documentation to confirm the event occurred

• Ask you to complete a short verbal or written follow-up about the content (for example, questions about the book or the class you documented)

• Request supporting materials such as class handouts, sign-in sheets, or dated notes

Refusal to participate in verification will be treated as a confirmed finding.

8. Appeals

If you believe a finding is wrong, you may appeal in writing within 14 days of the notice. Send your appeal to [email] and include any evidence that supports your case, such as drafts, notes, dated files, or contact information for people who can confirm the documented event.

Appeals are reviewed by the school director. If the appeal is upheld, no fee is charged (or the fee is refunded) and the original submission is graded normally. The director’s decision is final.

9. Acknowledgment

By submitting coursework, you confirm that:

• The work is your own and documents events, readings, and experiences that actually occurred

• You have not used AI tools to generate, draft, or fabricate any part of a covered submission

• You have read and understood this policy, including the $100 regrading fee