Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title: Neonatal, Infant, and Child Mortality Among Women Expos ed to Intimate Partner 
Violence  in East Africa: A Multi -Country Analysis  
 
Version: 1 Date: 02 May 2019  
 
Reviewer: Angela Taft  
 
Reviewer's report:  
Memiah et al, Neonatal etc BMC Wo men's Health  
Please add page numbers!  
 
Abstract  
1. Consider adding to the end of your final sentence…infants and children in East Africa 
and the wellbeing and safety of their mothers.  
 
Methods  
2. P.3 Line 21, you have the Kenya number twice  - 2432.  
3. Flow  reads better now with the Conceptual fw, but it is unclear how you used it. It would 
be better to make mention of which SES and other variables you considered distal etc. It 
shouldn't take up too much space.  
4. P.5 3rd para, line 44 'neonatal' not 'meonat al' 
5. Table 2 - explain why you have set BMI at over or under 18, as my reading of the East 
Asian mean BMI is well over 20. It is very low. Unless you can justify it, please remove it, as too 
many will fit into the over 18 category as that is the populati on mean.  
 
Results  
6. Table 3 - given that you have detailed the sample within each country now in the text and 
elsewhere, ok to just give total n on top of tables - not all country Ns detailed.  
7. Table 3. My suggestion would be to place th IPV finding at th e top of the whole table, as 
this is the focus of your study  - not half way down the table after SES stats.  
8. Suggest you asterisk all significant findings in this table. Too much burden for the reader 
otherwise.  
9.  Characteristics of women who experien ced IPV. Suggest your comment reports that factors 
associated with SES disadvantage more commonly associated with IPV, such as poverty, young 
age at first birth etc - and then comment under the categories in your table - health system factors 
e.g. no anten atal care, delivery by non HCPs.  
10. Table 5 is difficult to follow, as you have again buried your major variable (IPV) of interest 
under maternal factors. Move it to top of the table 5. Please put a double line to demarcate unadj 
from adj analyses. Please see if you can include the label  for Table 5 within the table.  
 
Discussion  
11. Consider relating your findings also to high rates of unintended and unwanted pregnancy - 
Pallitto CC, García -Moreno C, Jansen HAFM, L. Heise, Ellsberg M, Watts C, et al. Intimate 
partner violence, abortion, and unintended pregnancy: Results from the WHO Multi -country 
Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence. Int J Obstet Gynecol. 2013;120(1):3 -9. 
12. You still claim a relationship between artificially 'low' or 'high' BMI and you have not 
justified your c hoice of cut -off.  
13. You also misquote the findings for contraception, as Maxwell et al (ref 28) find the opposite, 
and your findings do not test this, only that women who use contraceptives are less likely to have 
poor pregnancy outcomes. This section n eeds rewriting. It is more common that women who 
experience IPV are less likely to be permitted to use contraceptives, although some may be more 
likely to use it for the reasons you give.  
14. You have not incorporated the WHO guidance about a whole of heal th system response.  
 
 
 
Are the methods appropriate and well described?  
If not, please specify what is required in your comments to the autho rs. 
 
Yes 
 
Does the work include the necessary controls?  
If not, please specify which controls are required in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the data shown?  
If not, please explain in your comments to the authors.  
 
No 
 
Are you able to assess any statistics in the manus cript or would you recommend an 
additional statistical review?  
If an additional statistical review is recommended, please specify what aspects req uire further 
assessment in your comments to the editors.  
 
I am able to assess the statistics  
 
Quality of written English  
Please indicate the quality of language in the manuscript:  
 
Acceptable  
 
Declaration of competing interests  
Please complete a declaration of  competing interests, considering the following questions:  
 
1. Have you in the past five years received reimbursements, f ees, funding, or salary from an 
organisation that may in any way gain or lose financial ly from the publication of this 
manuscript, eithe r now or in the future?  
 
2. Do you hold any stocks or shares in an organisation t hat may in any way gain or lose 
financially from the publication of this manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
3. Do you hold or are you currently applying for any patents r elating to the content of the 
manuscript?  
 
4. Have you received reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an organization t hat 
holds or has applied for patents relating to the content of the manuscript?  
 
5. Do you have any other financial competing inter ests?  
 
6. Do you have any non -financial competing interests in relation to this paper?  
 
If you can answer no to all of the above, write 'I declare that I have  no competing interests' 
below. If your reply is yes to any, please give details below.  
 
I declare that I have no competing interests   
 
 
 
 
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