Our Methodology

Every page on ask mamis — whether a guide, a pregnancy week, a baby month, a symptom or a forum answer — starts as a structured prompt sent to a large language model. For editorial content we use Anthropic's Claude Opus; for translations and shorter additions we use Claude Haiku. Each prompt carries three fixed blocks: the mother's concrete question, a list of permitted sources (WHO, AAP, NHS, BZgA, DGKJ, RKI, Cochrane, UpToDate, DGGG, ACOG) and a tone profile that puts empathy before facts. The model is not allowed to invent content outside that source list and must tie every concrete recommendation to a guideline. Before publication, each text is run through a second, independent model that checks three things: does any statement contradict a current guideline, is a mandatory disclaimer missing (fever, vaccination, emergencies), and is the tone bearable for an exhausted mother. Content is generated per language on purpose: an English text is not translated from the German one, it is written from the same source list so that cultural differences (e.g. Hebamme in Germany vs. midwife in the UK vs. doula in Spain) are captured correctly. Numbers, age ranges and dosages are cross-checked against the original source. Despite these steps, a model can still get things wrong — that is why every page carries a visible notice and an email address for error reports.

Every statement on ask mamis must be derivable from one of these publicly available sources. We have no advertising ties with these organisations — they don't even know we exist.

• WHO (World Health Organization)

  Open source

  Global guidelines on pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding (exclusive breastfeeding 0–6 months), immunisations and infant health.

• AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics)

  Open source

  U.S. specialty society for paediatrics. Basis for sleep recommendations, introduction of solids, immunisation schedules and SIDS prevention.

• NHS (UK National Health Service)

  Open source

  UK public health information for pregnant women and parents — practical, well-structured and freely accessible.

• BZgA (Bundeszentrale für gesundheitliche Aufklärung)

  Open source

  German federal authority — official guides for pregnancy, birth and child health ("Kindergesundheit-info.de", "familienplanung.de").

• DGKJ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Kinder- und Jugendmedizin)

  Open source

  German paediatric specialty society. Provides guidelines for complementary feeding, routine paediatric check-ups (U1–U9) and prevention of common childhood illnesses.

• RKI (Robert Koch-Institut)

  Open source

  German federal institute for infectious diseases. STIKO vaccination recommendations, data on measles, RSV, pertussis and infection prevention.

• Cochrane Library

  Open source

  Systematic reviews as the gold standard of evidence-based medicine. Our prompts request Cochrane evidence whenever a topic is contested.

• UpToDate

  Open source

  Clinical decision-support system used by over two million clinicians worldwide. Reference for differential diagnoses in paediatric symptoms.

• DGGG (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gynäkologie und Geburtshilfe)

  Open source

  German specialty society for gynaecology and obstetrics. Publishes AWMF S3 guidelines for pregnancy, birth and postpartum care.

• ACOG (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists)

  Open source

  U.S. professional body for obstetrics and gynaecology. Source for antenatal care, screenings and risk assessment.

• WHO Child Growth Standards

  Open source

  Official WHO growth charts (0–5 years). Data basis for our growth calculator and reference for questions about weight development.

• Stiftung Warentest / Öko-Test

  Open source

  Independent German consumer testing bodies. Reference for product comparisons (car seats, baby food jars, baby monitors, skincare).

We work with six safety nets. First, source-first prompting: before the model answers, we place the relevant guideline into its context — if it invents beyond that, we abort. Second, the mandatory disclaimer rule: for fever, jaundice, breathing difficulty, seizures, bleeding, suicidal thoughts and postpartum depression, an emergency notice is prepended automatically and cannot be disabled. Third, a tone safety net: we measure shame, blame and ableism signals in the text and automatically rewrite sections once a threshold is crossed. Fourth, citation enforcement: for every concrete number (sleep duration, age for starting solids, growth percentile, vaccination interval) the model must name the cited guideline in a structured field. Fifth, localised disclaimers: in Germany we point to the Hebamme and Kinderarzt, in the UK to the health visitor, in Spain to the matrona — each locale references the care structure actually available in that country. Sixth, periodic audits: each month we sample fifty pages at random and check them against current guidelines; deviations are corrected and logged in a changelog. None of these nets makes us error-free. They make errors rarer and easier to surface.

If you find a contradiction with a guideline, an outdated number, an unsafe dosage or a tone that slips, please tell us. An email to hello@ask-mamis.com with the subject "Content feedback" and the URL of the page is enough. We reply within five working days, correct the page within two weeks at the latest and log every change in a public changelog. Midwives, doctors, IBCLCs and doulas who have the time and inclination to formally review our texts are also welcome at the same address — we pay per review from 2027 onwards.