Author's response to reviews Title:The use of herbal medicines during breastfeeding: a population-based survey in Western Australia Authors:

The authors would like to thank both reviewers for their valuable comments and feedback. The authors have considered all comments and made necessary changes to the manuscript. The authors felt the comments from the reviewers were helpful and have improved the manuscript. Please see attached 1. Responses addressing each of the reviewers' comments 2. Revised manuscript (pdf with track changes) 3. Revised manuscript (word.doc) Kind regards Responses to Reviewers' Comments The authors would like to thank both reviewers for their valuable comments and feedback. The authors have considered all comments and made necessary changes to the manuscript. The authors felt the comments from the reviewers were helpful and have improved the manuscript. Please see below responses addressing each of the reviewers' comments. Please refer to the " revised manuscript with track changes " for page number where indicated below. Reviewer 1: This manuscript offers a valuable contribution to the current landscape of research on the topic. However, there are some weaknesses in the paper which, by addressing, would improve the value of the research and the manuscript. Reviewer's comments Response Major compulsory revisions: 1. How was the eligibility for recruitment defined to/by the pharmacists? A modified statement has been included in the methods section of the manuscript (page 6) to clarify, as below: " The pharmacists in-charge were requested to hand out the sets of forms to any women who visited their pharmacy whom they believed could have been eligible for the study. For example: women who came into the pharmacies with an infant or a young child to purchase any infant-related or breastfeeding-related products, or if they had declared that they were breastfeeding. " 2. How long was the recruitment period? Is it the same as the data collection period? The first sentence of the first paragraph under 'Results' has been modified and moved to the 'Methods' section under 'Data collection' (page 7) to improve clarity to readers. Modified statement as below: " Participant recruitment and data collection occurred concurrently between February and December 2012. " 3. Were any ineligible participant surveys returned? If so, what were characteristics which classified them as 'ineligible'? There were no ineligible participant surveys returned. All prospective participants were given a Participant Information Sheet which clearly stated the eligibility criteria and to return the survey if they felt they fit the criteria. The top section of the questionnaire form also reinforced the criteria to …