Background
LICs
The third United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) aims to reduce the global maternal mortality ratio (MMR) from 216 per 100,000 live births in 2015 to less than 70 per 100,000 by 2030. As a member state of the United Nations, Ethiopia is working towards achieving SDG targets. The MMR in Ethiopia is estimated at 412 per 100,000 live births in 2020 [Despite the Ethiopian government's efforts to increase the number of health facilities through its health extension programme (HEP), access to EmOC continues to be a challenge, and the met need for EmOC in 2016 was low (18% in all facilities) [For this and other reasons, women residing in rural and geographically remote communities continue to give birth outside health institutions in unsafe and unhygienic conditions [Regarding MWH contributions to maternal health, several studies from LICs, including Ethiopia, have reported that MWHs improve the institutional birth rate and reduce the odds of homebirth [A previous study from the study setting also revealed that only a few rural women gave birth in health institutions, despite government efforts to address the barriers to accessing institutional delivery care services [A lack of knowledge about the importance of maternal health services, including MWHs, is believed to negatively influence demand for these services. This demand is embedded and intertwined with cultural and social practices [