Annique Lee talks about how she became a death doula. To find out more, read Lainey Smith’s story.
Death doulas are a valuable asset on the ‘death scene’, to help people manage the death of someone they are caring for.
We’re very pleased that Lainey Smith from The Western Independent invited us to be part of her story about death doulas.
The Western Independent is the website of Curtin University’s Journalism Students.
The word ‘doula’ is a Greek word, originally applied to women who help other women giving birth. In the modern era it’s also used to cover those who help people who are dying, hence ‘death doulas’. This makes perfect sense. While death is a natural process, just like birth, the more support we can give people as they face this experience, the better.
And in the modern world we have become terrified of death because we protect ourselves from it.
“We are robbing people of the grieving processes we used to have as humans,” Renee Adair, of the End of Life Doula Training College, told The Western Independent.
It’s surprising how little known the ‘death doula’ concept is. Speaking to every day people in the community and even to business providers I’m often surprised that the expression is not a little better known.
Lainey tells us: “WA death doula Shane Bailey cared for many family members before becoming a part-time death doula. She says we need to accept that dying and death is a part of life’s journey, and death deserves the attention of planning. Death is a transformative part of life, it is something we should talk about and plan to make processes easier for our families.”
Western Independent
Here is another story from the Western Independent that we really like – it’s about men’s circles, a way of encouraging men to talk about what matters and so help support their mental health.
And here are some of our previous articles on death doulas.