My enquiries have dropped since the new search engine. The majority of women who call want to know in the first few minutes where I live in relation to them. Especially in London they want a doula who is local. I think the FAD should reflect this so perspective clients can see where doulas are based.

I think it is vital that we have a map for clients to see where we live and how close we are to them. Especially with birth and how unpredictable labour can be. Local support and knowledge is priceless and clients should have this option.

Potential clients searching for a doula want to know how far apart from them a doula lives. A map makes this far clearer than a postcode ever can. This would also help other doulas who may be looking for backup etc

To me it is obvious that it is ideally better to have a birth doula who lives not to far away and knows the local area - but particularly so for a postnatal doula. I only postnatal doula for women within my London postcode or close by as it means I can be much more flexible about numbers of hours and helping at short notice if needed.

I feel very strongly that clients should be able to see clearly the doulas that live locally to them. This is one of the first questions asked and an important factor in their choice. The current system makes DUK look dated and unprofessional and gives a disappointing first impression of our organisation to potential clients.

I do think this is important. I have had clients (one in particular) who was annoyed in how long it took her to find someone local. Many search sites now are map based and I believe that would be the way forward with regard to FAD.

I am strongly in favour of revising the FAD function. Clients need to know where local doulas are as this may have a real bearing on travel time, sometimes crucial when we are called out suddenly. I am certainly in favour of client choice but there is currently also a real chance that local doulas are overlooked as they are well down the list behind colleagues living many miles away. Prospective clients are unlikely to bother reading more than a few profiles and so doulas in their locality are losing work. The new website is fantastic but a bit of tweaking would be much appreciated.

Most websites offering services have a search facility that gives results based on proximity to the searcher's postcode. I believe the DUK also needs to provide potential customers with a search facility that helps them find doulas in their area.