WHAT IS AN END OF LIFE DOULA?
The word “doula” comes from Greek, meaning a person who serves. End of life doulas can go by many different names, including death doula, death or soul midwife, death companion or guide, sacred crossings guide, and more. Regardless of our varying titles, the essence of end of life doula care is to provide non-medical support and comfort to the dying and their chosen families, which may include education and guidance as well as emotional, spiritual, and practical care through times of critical, transformative life change. Typically, death doula support begins anywhere from as early as initial diagnosis through bereavement.
Doulas work with other caregivers and members of the medical team. We help clients navigate an array of end-of-life needs, such as advance care planning, spiritual advising, respite caregiving, practical household support, vigiling assistance, and bereavement support. When client needs fall outside the doula’s scope of practice, we make informed referrals to appropriate professionals and community resources.
Above all, doulas nurture, inform, support, guide, empower, and comfort. We foster self-determination in our clients by assisting them in gathering information and encouraging them to make informed choices that are right for them. Doula support is focused on and adapted to the unique needs and requirements of each family served, however that family is defined and conceived.
(For more on the role of end-of-life doulas, including the doula’s scope of practice, see the National End of Life Doula Alliance)
Image credit: Lifespan Doulas
MEET MUD LOTUS DOULAS
Darcy Lee Brandel is the founder and sole proprietor of Mud Lotus Doulas. She is a Certified End of Life Doula (CEOLD) who completed her initial training and professional certification through Lifespan Doulas with Merilynne Rush and Patty Brennan in 2020. Since then, she has received additional training and professional development (from Going with Grace, A Sacred Passing, and the Collective for Radical Death Studies, among others) in anti-racist, holistic modalities that center marginalized communities and actively dismantle systems of oppression. She is a certified Respecting Choices® First Steps Advance Care Planning Facilitator, holds a platinum credential for her LGBTQ+ cultural competency training through SAGECare, and has earned her Proficiency Badge with the National End of Life Doula Alliance. She is a trauma-informed practitioner who offers healing, grounded presence. She currently serves as a hospice volunteer with Henry Ford Hospice in Detroit. In addition to her work in end-of-life care, Darcy is also a poet, activist, and English professor whose teaching and research focuses on the intersections of the arts, activism, and social justice. She has been practicing and teaching meditation for over 20 years.