Village midwives in Indonesia are an essential part of the health system, functioning as an extension of Puskesmas (primary health clinics) in local communities. More information is needed to better understand how they manage their varied tasks, especially considering a renewed government focus on upscaling primary health care service delivery at village level. This paper explores how health equity is translated in regional Indonesia, in two resource poor settings, drawing on 12 in-depth interviews with village midwives. Positive experiences reported include intrinsic rewards, such as personal satisfaction, community respect and support from the health district. Meanwhile, the negative experiences identified include geographical challenges, poor access and infrastructure, high demand to deliver health priority programs, and the addition of miscellaneous administration tasks on top of their main roles. Investment in designing supportive resources for the health workforce working in remote populations is crucially needed to ensure better systems for the providers.