Being a Death Doula
Hi! I’m Lizzie. I”m a Death Doula. I'm an IT geek by trade but after a long wonderful career, I knew I wanted change. Chatting with a girlfriend one night who is a different doula, we asked is there a death doula? I Googled it and here we are. I'm excited to be journeying on this next phase! Besides being an IT geek, I”m a mom, a partner in crime that raises pigs in our backyard all summer for and enjoy hanging out with my family, avid reader, coffee addict and yoga practitioner and I love my German shepherd, Echo.
Besides completing HHA's Death Doula Certifiicate Program, I hold my Indigenous Death Worker from Blackbird Medicines. I have a passion to help our dying community have a good death. I have a special interest and training in MAID, and I’m a prospective Death Cafe Facilitator. I am not a medical professional in any capacity and I am not a replacement for your doctor but can be a valued member of your care support team.
I come to this work with extensive personal and painful experiences of death, loss and grief. Death has always found me, it’s where my soul feels most seen and needed. I’ve not only lost a husband unexpectedly but served my late father as his death doula and caregiver on his end-of-life journey with Renal failure for several years. I’ve supported my child and many friends and neighbours over the years with death and grief. I can help bridge the gap between pain and sorrow, healing and peace and help you or a loved one have a good death.
I am proud to be serving my community in times of need and doing this work.
I can assist in many ways from paperwork, goals of care, conversation starters with members of your care team, appointment companions, final arrangements, legacy projects, after-death care and everything in between. I can help you walk this path with gentleness and support. Much like planning labour and delivery, we plan your death experience exactly as you want. I can’t change your diagnosis, nor can I change anything about what you may or may not experience as your illness progresses but I can help you experience and prepare for it with gentleness. Everyone deserves a good death and I look forward to dedicating the rest of my life to helping our dying community.
If you or someone you know would like more information, please reach out on my social media pages, search Gentlend Death Doula or via email gentlend.doula@outlook.com I hope to see you sometime at a Death Cafe in a community near you or online where we can talk and open conversations about all things death.
For more information on Home Hospice Association (HHA)'s death doula training program, please visit https://www.homehospiceassociation.com/be-a-death-doula.
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Loretta (Lizzie) Cooper is a death doula candidate and Indigenous death worker.
You can learn more about Loretta on Instagram @gentlend.doula
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