If you’ve ever walked out of a prenatal appointment feeling unseen, I want you to know something: you’re not alone. You’re not “too much,” and you’re not wrong for wanting more than blood pressure checks and growth charts. You deserve care that sees your whole story.

I deeply believe that there is so much that can be done to help the dying have some peace at the end, and sometimes it can be just stating the obvious- that someone is dying but they are alive until their final breath.

When we support families, we strengthen communities. And when we prioritize emotional wellness, we help break cycles that have existed for generations.

My brother reached for my mother’s hand and then they walked up the driveway and then he let go of her hand. And she wrote in the story, “sometimes your children will hold your hand for perhaps the last time and you have to have enough common sense and grace to let them let go and then use that hand to wave them on.” That little quote of hers is such a gift for grievers too because we do also need that courage and grace to let go and wave them on. It's so hard. It's the hardest thing.

So, now I’ve been through two pregnancies after loss. I get the anxiety. I get the fear. But I also know that grief and joy go hand-in-hand. That there is hope after loss. I know that the love we have for our babies is stronger than the fear of losing them. And I know that time softens grief, but it will never erase it. 

Shane’s death, at home surrounded by his family with his favorite music playing in the background, energized Sheila to bring change to the way that death is approached in our culture. She saw how sacred the process of dying is, that those who are dying and the people close to them deserve the space to honor death in ways that are meaningful to them. After doing some research about how she could help to contribute to a more holistic view of death, she decided to become a death doula.

Doula care is often associated with low intervention, medication free, home births, and it’s true that parents who seek doula support are often those looking for a more “natural” birth. However, mothers who plan to give birth by cesarean section (c-section), whether for personal preference or medical necessity, can also greatly benefit from doula support before, during, and after birth. Here are some reasons why doula care can be highly valuable for c-section births.

A death doula walks the space between living and dying – and that space can be vast. It’s a myth that death doulas only offer their support during the eleventh hour of life. It’s a fact that death doulas fluidly move wherever they are called, serving at the threshold of life and death along its many stops before the final moment of dying.

Unfortunately many people, both in medical professions and in the general public, view doula care for pregnant, birthing, and postpartum parents as an expensive luxury. But would people view doula care differently if they knew that the presence of a doula before, during, and after birth can act as preventative care against physical and mental health complications related togiving birth?

I am here to tell you my origin story: how I chose to become a death doula, and just how much it means to me. My journey to becoming a death doula began in 2017, with the death of my grandfather, whom I called Papa.

How did we get from home-based death care to a more medical one? The emergence of hospitals in the 20th century significantly changed how society viewed and experienced death in several important ways.

The hospice movement has had a global impact, with organizations and hospice services established in many countries. However, access to hospice and palliative care remains uneven across different regions due to healthcare disparities and varying cultural attitudes towards death and dying.

For me, the path to becoming a birth worker is deeply intertwined with my own journey of healing, empowerment, and reclaiming sovereignty over my body and wellness.

This End-of-Life Practitioner training (death doula training) is an in-depth training and takes place over the course of 12 months both online and in person. Students explore the physical, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of death and dying.

Lori is a born helper, listener, and encourager. After supporting families at the beginning of life as a nanny, Lori realized that she could use the same skills at the end of life. After all, there are a lot of similarities.

Death doulas, also known as end-of-life doulas or death midwives, are trained professionals who provide emotional, spiritual, and practical support to individuals and their families during the dying process.

The statistics for black and brown birthing people are terrible. In Tennessee black people are 69% more likely to die than white people. It’s heartbreaking and maddening and dire. I asked Kaila, “Why? What can we do?”

To me, death is a part of life that we cannot avoid. But what happens at the time of death and afterwards, has always been an unknown.

Support from death doulas during the time of death addresses various aspects of the dying process: emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual.

When Taja Iglesias, a young BIPOC girl with a Spanish last name, gave birth in southern Florida over a decade ago, she had no idea that her experience would inspire her to create a doula agency that would support families in the U.S. and beyond.