INSPIRED ENDINGS

End-of-life doulas honor the sacredness of our full life cycle with a specialized focus on the final transition from a serious terminal illness, dying and then death.  Doulas provide much-needed guidance as well as non-medical physical, emotional and spiritual support that springs from the values and goals of the patient as well including that which is culturally significant. The wrap-around support extends to the family as well.  

Doulas are the torchbearers for positive change in our death-denying culture, advocating for open conversations and curiosity about death and dying.

In the United States, the doula movement reemerged in response to the confusion and heartache that many people have experienced when trying to make sense of a fractured medical system that does not prioritize human dignity over profit and often creates needless suffering.  The cost has been a wave of trauma that extends through generations.

End-of-life doulas offer somewhat the same model of holistic non-medical support as birth doulas who support a pregnant woman before, during, and after birth.  End-of-life doulas provide this same personalized care as people are laboring out of this life.

This model of care emphasizes the need for end-of-life planning well before a critical illness arises. Many doulas provide guidance in completing all end of life planning documents., from advance care through after death directives. This goes a long way to ensure that nobody is left confused as to the wishes of a dying person once they can no longer speak for themselves.

End-of-life doulas may also offer support with after-death care as well.  There is a recognition of the human need to tend lovingly to our beloved dead which tends to offer a soothing balm on the heart of the bereaved. 

We are certainly bowing down to what is holy in all of us when we care for and accompany each other as we transition out of this human life.

Please join us for the next End-of-Life Doula training.