If you’ve landed on this page, the chances are you’re curious about death and dying. Curious, scared, or possibly just highly organised. Maybe a close friend or someone in your family or whānau has died, and you wish you’d known more. Perhaps they’re terminally ill right now, physically and emotionally drained, and in need of help. Or maybe you’re here for yourself, thinking about a future that seems neither near nor far away, but inevitable. Whatever your reason, you want to know more: what happens when a person is dying? what support am I able to access? do I need to have a funeral, and can I plan what it looks like? what happens to my precious belongings? can I leave a legacy to my children or the community that I live amongst?

I’m an end-of-life doula, a person who encourages others to have conversations about death and dying before it’s too late. It’s not a clinical role - that’s for the medical staff, like doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and so on.  My role as a doula is to support you and your family or friends in practical and emotional ways. I can provide information and education, help you with documents like an Advanced Care Plan (ACP), prepare you for what to expect, or simply sit at your bedside and hold your hand. As a celebrant I can help you plan a ceremony – either a living funeral or a funeral after you’ve died.

My scope of practice as a doula is broad, and you’ll find a growing number of people like me across Aotearoa. We all offer slightly different things: some are experts in recording memoirs; others are great at after-death care; all of us are compassionate, trained professionals who believe that a good life ends with a good death.