Y. To ensure confidentiality, HEWs were randomly assigned a number (HEW1, HEW2 and so on). HEWs were offered travel costs to the workshop and the standard government per diem for attending training. No compensation was offered to the women in the study. HEWs receivedPLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0150747 March 10,5 /Maternal P144 cost Health Service Utilization and Acceptance in Adwa Woreda, Ethiopiafeedback and the opportunity to share their findings during the final workshop after the data collection period. A detailed report was provided alongside a presentation to the TRHB and the Adwa Woreda health office in August 2015. The collected data has been kept in a locked cabinet (hard copies) or on computers that are password protected (soft copies).Data analysisAfter data collection, HEWs returned to Adwa for a second workshop to discuss their findings with other HEWs and the research team. This allowed HEWs and the research team to identify key issues emerging from the interviews, and lessons learned. In keeping with the principles recommended by Price et al. [33], the purpose was to analyze the data, promote discussion and enable HEWs to contribute to insights and raise awareness about the issues under investigation. Key themes such as barriers to health services and what makes it easy to access health services were discussed in depth to ensure our interpretation of the data was consistent with what the women told HEWs. However, we were not focused on the frequency of how many women mentioned key barriers for instance, or on collecting other `facts’ but were more interested in understanding `the different ways in which people talk about and describe the social world they experience around them’ [34]. The women’s narratives served as primary social data with the HEWs serving as the social analyst’s key informants. We benefited from working with HEWs who are the get TAK-385 bridge between delivering MNCH programs at the kebele level and the women in the kebeles they are aiming to reach. Data were translated into English by FH and analyzed thematically (RJ and FH). Data analysis by the research team involved entering narrative data into Microsoft Word in English, reading and re-reading and identifying key themes. We analyzed the data according to the preexisting analytical framework developed according to the objective of the research.Results Characteristics of the women interviewed16 HEWs interviewed 45 women about maternal health seeking behavior j.jebo.2013.04.005 in Adwa Woreda, Tigray Region (one HEW who was around 40 weeks gestation of pregnancy at the time of the workshop did not interview any women). The average age of the women who were interviewed was 32 years. Around two-thirds (31 women) were married and the majority of women (42 out of 45) were Ethiopian Orthodox by religion. Just over half of the women have attended some formal education with the majority (23 women) achieving only primary education. Only 3 of the women had never received a Tetanus Toxoid vaccination, around half the women had had 2 vaccinations while the remaining women had been vaccinated 3 or 4 times. 6 women had received 5 Tetanus Toxoid vaccinations. More than three-quarters of the women (36 out of 45 women) had attended ANC by a midwife at least once during their last pregnancy. 5 of the women had given birth to their last child at home, 3 at the health post, 23 at the health centre and 14 at the primary hospital. 27 women reported that midwives attended the birth of their last child.Bar.Y. To ensure confidentiality, HEWs were randomly assigned a number (HEW1, HEW2 and so on). HEWs were offered travel costs to the workshop and the standard government per diem for attending training. No compensation was offered to the women in the study. HEWs receivedPLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0150747 March 10,5 /Maternal Health Service Utilization and Acceptance in Adwa Woreda, Ethiopiafeedback and the opportunity to share their findings during the final workshop after the data collection period. A detailed report was provided alongside a presentation to the TRHB and the Adwa Woreda health office in August 2015. The collected data has been kept in a locked cabinet (hard copies) or on computers that are password protected (soft copies).Data analysisAfter data collection, HEWs returned to Adwa for a second workshop to discuss their findings with other HEWs and the research team. This allowed HEWs and the research team to identify key issues emerging from the interviews, and lessons learned. In keeping with the principles recommended by Price et al. [33], the purpose was to analyze the data, promote discussion and enable HEWs to contribute to insights and raise awareness about the issues under investigation. Key themes such as barriers to health services and what makes it easy to access health services were discussed in depth to ensure our interpretation of the data was consistent with what the women told HEWs. However, we were not focused on the frequency of how many women mentioned key barriers for instance, or on collecting other `facts’ but were more interested in understanding `the different ways in which people talk about and describe the social world they experience around them’ [34]. The women’s narratives served as primary social data with the HEWs serving as the social analyst’s key informants. We benefited from working with HEWs who are the bridge between delivering MNCH programs at the kebele level and the women in the kebeles they are aiming to reach. Data were translated into English by FH and analyzed thematically (RJ and FH). Data analysis by the research team involved entering narrative data into Microsoft Word in English, reading and re-reading and identifying key themes. We analyzed the data according to the preexisting analytical framework developed according to the objective of the research.Results Characteristics of the women interviewed16 HEWs interviewed 45 women about maternal health seeking behavior j.jebo.2013.04.005 in Adwa Woreda, Tigray Region (one HEW who was around 40 weeks gestation of pregnancy at the time of the workshop did not interview any women). The average age of the women who were interviewed was 32 years. Around two-thirds (31 women) were married and the majority of women (42 out of 45) were Ethiopian Orthodox by religion. Just over half of the women have attended some formal education with the majority (23 women) achieving only primary education. Only 3 of the women had never received a Tetanus Toxoid vaccination, around half the women had had 2 vaccinations while the remaining women had been vaccinated 3 or 4 times. 6 women had received 5 Tetanus Toxoid vaccinations. More than three-quarters of the women (36 out of 45 women) had attended ANC by a midwife at least once during their last pregnancy. 5 of the women had given birth to their last child at home, 3 at the health post, 23 at the health centre and 14 at the primary hospital. 27 women reported that midwives attended the birth of their last child.Bar.