Editorial guidelines

Sourcing

We draw on national guidance bodies and peer-reviewed evidence: the NHS and NICE in the UK, ACOG and the CDC in the United States, RANZCOG in Australia and New Zealand, the SOGC in Canada, the WHO, and the Cochrane Library. We cite the specific document, not the organisation in general.

We do not cite other content sites as authorities. If a claim can only be traced to another blog, we do not make it.

Review

Every health page is reviewed before publication by a named member of the ShePrep team, and carries their name. Our reviewers are editorial, not clinical: they check that each claim traces to the source cited and that the page reflects it accurately. They are not registered clinicians, and nothing here has clinical sign-off. Contracting a registered clinician to review our health content is a priority, and when that happens we will publish their credentials and registration number and show the review date on every page they have read.

The review date shown on the page is the same value used in the page's structured data. They cannot diverge.

Answering the question

We answer the question asked, in the first paragraph, before any context. Someone searching at two in the morning should not have to read four paragraphs of preamble to find out whether what they are experiencing is normal.

Where the honest answer is uncomfortable, we give the honest answer. We do not falsely reassure, and we do not catastrophise.

Numbers

Where a number exists, we give it. "Speak to your doctor" is not an answer to "how much caffeine is safe". We state the figure, name the body that set it, and say where other countries differ.

Countries and units

We serve readers across the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland. Weights and measurements appear in both metric and imperial. Where clinical guidance differs by country, we show the variation and name each source rather than defaulting to one country's position.

Corrections

When we get something wrong we correct it and note that we have. We do not quietly edit and move on.

Advertising and independence

Advertising and affiliate links never influence clinical content. No advertiser sees or approves a page before it is published. Pages covering pregnancy loss and other sensitive topics carry no advertising at all.