How we research, write and correct

What we cover

We write about the practical side of having a baby: who to see, what it costs, and what you're entitled to. That means care options (doulas, midwives, lactation consultants, birth centers and hospitals), prices, insurance and Medicaid coverage, and benefits such as WIC and paid family leave. We keep general pregnancy-health content to a minimum, because your own clinician is the right source for that.

Where our information comes from

We start from primary sources, in roughly this order of preference:

• Federal and state agencies: CMS and Medicaid.gov, HRSA, CDC and the National Center for Health Statistics, USDA's Food and Nutrition Service, the Department of Labor, and each state's Medicaid, WIC and paid-leave agency
• Laws and regulations, from the Federal Register, the eCFR and state statutes
• Nonpartisan research and policy trackers, such as KFF, the National Academy for State Health Policy and Georgetown University's Center for Children and Families
• Peer-reviewed research, with a preference for systematic reviews
• Professional and credentialing bodies, such as ACOG, the American College of Nurse-Midwives, the AMCB, NARM and IBLCE
• Insurer policies, when a guide explains how a specific plan handles something

Every statistic, price, law and study finding in a guide carries a numbered citation that links to the source list at the bottom of the page. If we can't find a reliable source for a number, we leave the number out. Our 22 guides cite 270 sources between them.

What our automated check does, and doesn't do

Before every build of the site, a script reads every guide and blocks the build if a guide:

• has fewer than four sources, or a source without a title, publisher and secure link
• has fewer than four numbered citations, or a citation number with no matching source
• links to a page on this site that doesn't exist
• uses a phrase we don't allow, such as “top-rated”, or claims a clinical review that didn't happen

The check confirms that citations line up with the source list. It can't confirm that a source says what the guide says. That part depends on how we write, and on readers who tell us when something is wrong (see corrections).

Numbers on directory and benefit pages

Provider counts, listings and badges come from public datasets: the federal NPI registry, CMS hospital data, state Medicaid doula lists and the Commission for the Accreditation of Birth Centers. Benefit rules by state come from data files that record each figure's source and the month we checked it. Read how we build the directory for the details.

We never guess a state's rule. When we can't confirm one from an official or well-documented source, the page says Check and points you to the state agency.

How we use AI tools

Guides are written by The Mom Site editorial team with the help of AI writing tools. The tools help us gather and summarize sources and draft text. They work from the sources we list, and every statistic, price, law or study finding in a published guide has to carry a numbered citation to one of them.

• The byline is “The Mom Site editorial team” because no guide is the work of one named expert, and we don't invent authors or credentials.
• AI tools don't create listings or benefit figures. Those are built by code from the public datasets above.
• The photos on this site are AI-generated illustrations. They show no real patients, families or providers.

Clinical review

No clinician reviews our guides today, and no page on this site claims otherwise. Our guides explain costs, coverage and options; they aren't a substitute for advice from your own doctor, midwife or lactation consultant. If we add clinical reviewers, each reviewer's name and credentials will appear on the guides they review.

Independence and partners

• Listings come from public records. Providers don't pay to be listed, and no one can pay or claim their way higher in a list.
• We don't publish star ratings, reviews or testimonials, and we never call a provider “verified”, “top-rated” or “best”.
• Some guides include a clearly labeled partner block, such as a breast pump supplier on our breast pump guide. Partner links are marked “Partner” and open the partner's site. Partners have no say in what a guide says. See our affiliate disclosure.

Updates

Coverage rules, prices and laws change. Each guide shows the date it was last updated, and each benefit table shows the month its data was checked. We revisit a guide when a rule it relies on changes, and we rebuild the directory when new federal data is released.

Corrections

If you find an error, tell us through the contact form and choose “Report an error in a guide or benefit figure”. We review every report. When we confirm an error, we fix it, update the guide's date and correct the source if that's where the problem was. Providers can update their own listing by claiming it from the claim page.

Not medical advice

Everything here is general information. It isn't medical, legal or financial advice, and it doesn't create a provider-patient relationship. See our medical disclaimer.