ha giang province is near the chinese border.n villages here are home to members of the nung and hmong peoples - poor communities cut off from the wider world. this isolation takes a toll on the women here. the maternal mortality rate is 10 times higher than in the rest of the country. sum is trying to bring some medical know-how to the villagers here. she is a member of the nung people herself, and a mother of two. she gets up at 4:30 each morning to care for her family -- then works in the rice fields with her husband. she had to ask his permission to train to become a midwife. >> i was against it at first. who would take care of the kids and the household? now i'm ok with it. she's doing something good. >> pregnant women even seek sum's advice out in the rice fields. min married when she was 18 and she's expecting her first child. sum tells her to go to the clinic if the baby is due soon. min says she's still not that far along, she's only in the seventh month. >> that's another problem. most women just don't know their exact