( CNN ) -- The young women in a Kabul classroom are learning how to deal with a difficult birth . As instructors watch over and guide the simulation , the girls gently tug at a baby doll as it passes through the model of a birth canal . These students , all in their third semester at the Ghazanfar Institute of Health Sciences , will soon join the growing number of midwives in a country where being a mother is ranked among the worst in the world . Women in Afghanistan are 70 times more likely to die in childbirth than from a bullet or a bomb , according to Save the Children . It 's a grim statistic the women here are trying to change . `` My father encouraged me to do this because when he was 10 , he lost his mother when she was giving birth to another child , '' says Almasa Katawazi , who , like the rest of her classmates , hopes to make Afghanistan a better , safer place for mothers and their babies . Katawazi says she wants women in far-flung provinces to have access to good medical facilities , doctors and midwives . To that end , she says she plans to go and work in Paktika province once she 's certified . In 2003 , there were only about 500 midwives in Afghanistan . Today , there are some 3,000 . But many more are needed . `` Increasing the numbers of midwives , particularly midwives that live and work within communities and rural communities that might not have access to other health services is an extremely important factor in reducing maternal mortality , '' says Rachel Maranto of Save the Children . Still , less than two-thirds of Afghan women have access to nearby health facilities . `` Many , many mothers and children will never see a trained health worker , a doctor , a nurse or a midwife in their lifetime , '' Maranto says , `` and that really needs to be improved and turned around . '' It 's one of the reasons why groups such as Save the Children , along with other nongovernmental organizations and foreign donors , are funding programs in conjunction with the country 's Ministry of Public Health to improve the chances of mothers ' and children 's welfare and survival . A mother bravely campaigns for president . One pilot program in Guldara District teaches volunteers how to become community health workers . Many of the women being trained have lost mothers , sisters and cousins to pregnancy-related complications . Many have also buried their babies . They decided it was time to change things . The women are illiterate , so they learn from pictograms . `` It 's good work , '' says Noorzi , a mother of six . `` In my village , maternal mortality has gone down 100 % in the last two years . '' Noorzi 's village may be an exception , but most women there now give birth in the presence of qualified health workers . Still , sustaining and spreading initiatives such as this one will take even more investment from the international community . And while NGOs point to a certain success in the reduction of mother and child mortality rates in recent years , the situation in Afghanistan remains dire -- here , a woman dies from pregnancy-related causes every two hours . That statistic is just one that illustrates the fragile state of women in Afghanistan more than a decade since Western forces ousted Taliban rule . Speaking out against rape | Tortured teen : 'Same should be done to them ' Back in the Kabul classroom , the midwives in training stay focused . `` Their main goal should be serving mothers and decreasing the rate of maternal mortality , '' says Turpekai Azizi , a midwife instructor . It 's a noble goal , but one that could be in jeopardy , women and aid workers say they fear , if foreign funding falls off once coalition troops withdraw .
Afghanistan has long been ranked among the worst in the world for mothers . Afghan women 70 times more likely to die in childbirth than from a bullet or a bomb , group says . Trained midwives are helping battle grim statistics .