Maya Bridge Success Stories: High Risk Pregnancy in a Lower-Diffusion Language

Recently, our team was contacted by one of our healthcare clients requesting a Nahuatl interpreter for an expecting mother with a high-risk pregnancy. This woman was faced with the unimaginable stressors of a language barrier and high-risk complications in her pregnancy, in addition to the normal stress and concern that comes with childbirth. 

Thankfully, our dedicated operating staff utilized our team of both Nahuatl-to-Spanish and Spanish-to-English interpreters to provide 24/7 on-demand support to both the mother and baby, as well as hospital staff, to ensure that all parties were able to communicate clearly and effectively through the stressful event. 

In the end, everything went well with the delivery. Barbara Englis at LCSW said of the incident: 

“For everyone who has helped provide interpreting for a Nahuatl-speaking patient with a high-risk pregnancy, especially during this past weekend, THANK YOU! I was informed that the patient and her new baby are doing well, and I wanted to let you know.”

We’re extremely grateful for our amazing interpreters and our incredible operating staff who help us to make a difference in the lives of Indigenous language speakers, especially in critical moments like these. 

This incident highlights just how needed our company and our mission are. When a speaker of an indigenous language enters the hospital in urgent or critical scenarios, there isn’t time to delay, pre-schedule an interpreter, or look for potential resources. Hospitals and clinics need to have a relationship with companies like Maya Bridge established and ready so that when the service is needed, it can be provided. 

We look forward to continuing to grow to capture more of the demand for indigenous and lower-diffusion language services and to being the reliable resource needed to meet that demand.

About the Author

Jace Norton is a Q'eqchi' interpreter and linguist with an extensive background in the Q'eqchi' language. Norton lived and worked among the Q'eqchi' people from 2010-2012, created a language learning guide for Q'eqchi' in 2014, and worked in Q'eqchi' translation and interpretation from 2017-2021. In 2021, Norton founded Maya Bridge Language Services and is now a leading advocate for Mayan language access in the US.