Why is it so important to have an English version of the site? The site is about doulas in the Netherlands, all doulas in the index work in this country. Most (but not all) doula-profiles are in Dutch. Why bother going to the trouble of translating all of it?
The mission of Doula.nl is to provide access to a doula for every pregnant woman in the Netherlands who needs one. And it just so happens that many of those women don’t speak Dutch. The doula is a more familiar phenomenon in some other countries. Women come to the Netherlands from these countries, maybe for work or to join their partner. If they’re going to give birth here, they’ll be looking for a doula. And Doula.nl wants to be there for them.
Other women don’t come over here for such pleasant reasons. They may be refugees for instance, so their pregnancy will be more stressful. The prospect of giving birth here, alone in this strange land without their relatives and friends, may be daunting. Doulas can do great work for them. And again, mostly these women don’t speak Dutch.
So hopefully the new English version will help serving the mission of Doula.nl. If you visit it and notice anything wrong, please let me know. And help spreading the word, so that more doulas can help more births go better!
Saskia Bruyn, Doula.nl
