Mara Ricoy Olariaga DPSI (Health)
Spanish (A) English (B) Italian (C)
As an emigrant and a mother I understand the importance of communication
When I had my first child in 2001, something happened that made me realise the importance of being able to communicate, read and express ourselves. During a regular visit to the GP, I was asked if I could interpret for a South American mother who was there with a screaming baby who would not settled. I accepted to do so with my child on my lap, and I was shocked to understand that due to the language barrier, the other mother was making her child sick, not understanding the correct dosage and instructions of the formula milk she was using.
From Birth Educator, to Activist, Writer and Birth Interpreter
That experience stayed with me for a long time, I then became an NCT teacher, and during an international birth conference in 2010 in Spain, the interpreter to Sheila Kitzinger didn't arrive in time, so they asked if anyone who spoke Spanish and English could help. I was such an admirer of her work that I offered, surprisingly worked out ok. And I then decided that one day I would like to try to help by being and interpreter, but never came around it. I taught many classes, wrote three books, and was busy with three children. But it was in 2017 during a conference in King's College Hospital with Ricki Lake, that I overheard a couple of midwives talking about the association between cesarean sections and the language barrier It was then when I decided that something had to be done, that mothers and babies should be a priority, that birth and motherhood also need interpreting, and in my view, a very specific way of doing so.
Medical Interpreter
It is all to do with healthcare but not only
I am happy to say that I spend most of the end of the pandemic training for the DPSI (Diploma in Public Services Interpreting) in the speciality of healthcare with a my passion for obstetrics and languages finally together for a good use.
I passed my DPSI exam in June 2022, obtaining three merits and one distinction.
But as an interpreter I find myself working with insurance companies, in film festivals, and even
with investigators trying to improve the conditions in work factories around the world. I am always flexible and I love that I learn while I work. It is one of the best things of being an interpreter.
So if you or someone you know could benefit from having an interpreter, get in touch.