Death Dilemmas and the Death Doula

With life there is the guarantee of death.  Normally, we float through our life without a thought to the end of our journey.  Sure, we may have put together a will that is now so outdated it doesn’t make sense and we may or may not know what we would like to happen once we die, but we don’t share that information with anybody so whomever is left behind has the joy of trying to determine what our last requests would be. 

But there is an option!  Have you ever heard of a death doula?  This individual is trained to walk beside you on your final leg of your journey, helping you work through details from death planning, advance care planning, vigil planning, legacy projects and provide bereavement and grief support for your family after you have taken your last breath. 

Whether it is helping organize personal and financial details, selecting music and photos for your celebration or partaking in a project to celebrate your life in a memorial to be passed on to future generations, a death doula can be your companion on this journey, advocating for your needs and providing you an opportunity for your voice to be heard. 

Your walk along this path does not need to be alone!  A death doula can help you navigate your individualized journey  with dignity with professional and ethical compassion.

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Mary Jeffery is a life-long student and a graduate of HHA’s Death Doula Certificate Program. With over 30  years of working in healthcare in acute care my professional career took a different path supporting those on their final journey.  Aspiring those to complete their lives with control, dignity and companioning them along the way.