Women in Afghanistan suffer the second highest maternal mortality ratio in the world. The physical causes of maternal death include post-partum hemorrhage, infection, obstructed labor and pregnancy induced hypertension; however in parts of the world where women have access to appropriate health care, these causes do not result in death, but are treated with rather basic medical technology. Unfortunately, most women in Afghanistan who die in childbirth do so without ever seeing a skilled health care provider. Challenges to accessing care include inadequate numbers of female nurses and doctors spread across mountainous and disparate communities, poor transportation infrastructure and political insecurity. Recently, the Afghan Ministry of Public Health partnered with several local and international NGOs address the shortage of providers by designing a fast-tracked program that trains young women in only the medical management of normal pregnancy and childbirth. In order to make the program work within local notions of gender and community, village leaders were made responsible for selecting the woman who will leave her home to attend the 18 month training in the provincial capital. These "community midwives" must sign contracts that stipulate they return to their villages following graduation and serve the women of their communities for at least three years. Using ethnographic data collected in three provinces in Afghanistan, this paper examines the reproductive health impact and social implications of community midwives as the first female professionals in many villages. A detailed examination of this emergent and unprecedented role offers insight into local meanings of community, gender and health in Afghanistan that are often mistaken as entrenched and misogynistic. Generational differences in women's perceptions and behaviors surrounding maternal risk also reflect more subtle changes in household expectations of family and gender. This article will demonstrate how the visibility of women in the public sphere creates resources and networks which ultimately reduce maternal risk.