Medical review
The answer
Every milkatlas page that touches a health question is reviewed by Dr. Jill Palko, a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist, before it is published, again whenever its substance changes, and at least once a year. The reviewer checks the evidence notes against the studies they cite, confirms that no page makes a claim the evidence does not support, and signs off with a date that appears in the byline, beside the date the next review is due. The reviewer does not write the pages.
Who is the reviewer?
She is a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist and a Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. She earned her medical degree at Rush Medical College in Chicago in 2010, trained in obstetrics and gynecology at MetroHealth Medical Center and the Cleveland Clinic from 2010 to 2014, and holds medical licences in Florida, Illinois, Indiana, North Carolina and West Virginia.
She works as an obstetric hospitalist, caring for women through birth and the days after it, and is certified in neonatal resuscitation. She also reviews published medical evidence as a clinical analytics specialist at Elsevier.
Which pages are reviewed?
The pages that answer a health question: preparation and safe feeding, allergy, colic and reflux, choosing and switching formulas, toddler milk, goat milk formula, ingredients and recalls, and the product pages. Each shows its review date in the byline, and a page still waiting for its review shows none. Buying, pricing and company pages are not medically reviewed and do not show a reviewer row.
What does a review check?
Questions parents ask
Does the review date change on every edit?
Only when the substance of a health claim changes. A typo fix does not trigger a review; a change to an evidence note does.
Can I see what changed at a review?
Yes. Substantive changes are logged on the page's corrections entry and on the corrections page.
Why is an obstetrician-gynecologist reviewing formula pages?
Because the review is a physician's check of evidence and safety wording, and an obstetrician-gynecologist cares for mothers through pregnancy, birth and the weeks after. A question about a particular baby, such as an allergy, is for that baby's pediatrician, and the pages send it there.
What does the reviewer not do?
Write the pages, choose the products, or answer questions about individual babies.
Sources
- The reviewer's public register entry the registration the byline stamp links to
- Editorial policy which clusters require review