END-OF-LIFE DOULA Information Center

Welcome! Are you curious about finding the “real scoop” on this new role you’ve heard of called End-of-Life Doula or Death Doula? Yes! It really is a ‘thing.’

Scroll through this page to be introduced to many valuable resources.   

I have only seen this one training and I already love you! Thank you, thank you for offering your wisdom and giving those of us interested in end-of-life doula work an opportunity to explore if it is the right fit. I feel either way, this self exploration will be highly beneficial. Thank you again. – Michelle P.

Scroll on! There is so much more to tell you…

THE EMERGING END-OF-LIFE DOULA ROLE
The National End-of-Life Doula Alliance

The National End-of-Life Doula Alliance (NEDA) was formed in 2017, after several end-of-life service trainers met at a NHPCO (see below) conference in San Diego, California. Long story short (see the full story in Deanna’s book, Accompanying the Dying), they decided to join together to establish a nonprofit membership organization to bring unity within the rapidly growing end-of-life doula movement. Regardless of someone’s background or training (all are invited), NEDA strives to establish core competencies and professional standards for doulas who have a professional practice. Below is our initial pictograph describing the role (in 2017..how sweet 😊)

More News

The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization

The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization invited End-of-Life Doulas into the fold in early 2018. We held our inaugural meeting of the End-of-Life Doula Advisory Council in Washington, DC, in April 2018. The purpose of the Council is to educate member hospice and palliative care organizations about the role of the end-of-of life doula and how to utilize community doulas. Deanna served as first Chair from 2018 to December 2020.

Please visit the National End of Life Doula Alliance website to learn more about how many professional doulas and trainers are joining together to bring professional standards to our beloved role.

The art of the practice may be learned by anyone who has the calling. The business of the practice, that of serving the community, requires a bit more. 

Stay tuned for more about NEDA and other national initiatives.



Census Bureau data reports that by 2030 people over the age of 65 will outnumber children (<18) for the first time in history. As this transition occurs over the next 10 years, we all will feel the impact in our fragmented healthcare system.​


Deanna answers below The #1 Question most people have before they get started:


MORE FAQ’s:

No. There is no accrediting body in the USA or any other country for End-of-Life doulas. Each End-of=Life Doula training that has a Certificate Program is from that organization only. More and more people, doulas included, are expecting a person to have this specific training if they are practicing professionally. 

Yes, and no. We have been accompanying each other through dying the best we can all along the way in our evolution as a species. Since Dame Cecily Saunders began advocating for compassionate end-of-life care in healthcare in the 1960s, there has been a new awareness and new standard we have grown to support.  What is happening now, over the last 20 years is the acknowledgement that we need more support as an adjunct to our healthcare and hospice systems. If you are going to do this professionally, this non-medical loving support requires an expertise if you are going to offer it to your community. You must have special awarenesses and training. 

Death doulas are supportive to hospice; they do not take the place of hospice. There are progressive hospices in this country that actually have end-of-life doula programs housed within their volunteer programs. Deanna currently consults with many of them and custom builds programs for them. When a Doulas is functioning within a hospice they are providing an extra layer of support that spans before, during and after death. When a Doula is functioning in the community as an independent practitioner, they are hired by the family and advocate for the family. They are a source of referral to hospices and support the hospice as well as the family. As an independent practitioner, a Death doula is able to provide any service a family may need instead of working within the confines of a healthcare organization. Their service is only limited by their won expertise and boundaries, not company policies. Death doulas also can step in where hospice may need help.

“Yes and No. What I think is happening is that people want to know how to serve the dying well. So many people up to now have been removed from the dying process and after death process. We have been turning our dying and death care duties over to hospitals and funeral homes for the last 80 – 100 years. Although all the modern miracles of life-saving treatments have been astounding and we are grateful for them, it has changed the face of dying as we used to know it.

Now we must learn how to die in this modern age. There are new ethical considerations and new decisions to be made. The very treatments and protocols that we want to use for saving someone’s life who could survive from an accident or special circumstance actually hurts a person who is dying. Dying from chronic illness is very different than how we used to die before the marvels of the last 100 years.

Each culture and every community has ‘wise ones’ who know how to assist their family, friends and neighbors through the dying time. These people are still here; it is many of these people coming by the hundreds to add more knowledge to their skill set, learn new things from people who have more experience. We are combining our abilities and awareness.

Because of where we are headed with the aging of our baby boomer generations, what many are calling the “Silver Tsunami,” we will need so many people to help care for them, advocate for them, guide them and help plan on every level. Some will do this through community organizations through volunteering and some will offer professional services. There will be many who are the ‘go-to’ person in their family/friend circle and that is all they want to be. There is so much need and we need people in every corner who know how to accompany and want to.

I personally believe that the newly professionalized role of doula is about empowering our communities on a level that is necessary. You cannot only depend on volunteers with the massive needs we are facing in the next 10 years. It may be that a family only need the professional services of a doula once and from that experience, their confidence is restored or they know now they can do it. 
The family may never need us again, and that is the point:  to gracefully empower the people we serve to take care of their own loved ones. In the future, they may want to have us back to support them, but they won’t feel they need another professional to stand between them and their death experience.

The people who are not afraid of dying and death and find joy in serving through this sacred time are coming forward in droves to learn more about the art of accompanying others through dying. They are seeking to ground the calling they feel.
We are here to walk alongside others who know but who may want additional support and we are here also to walk with the people who do not know how, guiding them through unfamiliar territory. 
 
Since I began this way in 2005, it has never been my intention to create a new profession, it was my intention to share what I know about dying and learn from others the same. The new professional role of the doula was born out of this, not from my doing, but from the many who know they can do this too–provide an expertise that is needed, so that our family and friends do not fall through the cracks.” ~ Deanna Cochran RN

Certified CareDoula® is the first End-of-Life Doula Certificate Program in the US (created in 2010), dedicated to training laypeople as well as healthcare professionals. When Deanna first offered this program, there was nothing like it anywhere. Now, in the US alone (2025), there are more than 70 doula trainings.

The best thing to do is NOT get stuck in research mode. Take a few days and look at several, then select about 3 that you resonate the most with, then dive deeply into each trainer and their program. You’ll know who to select once you do this. The main thing is to take action. Don’t get stuck in research mode.

What Deanna recommends you do is to:

  1. Decide what it is you want to learn next or what it is you feel you need next to move forward in your desire to serve the dying.
  2. Do a search and ask around about that particular thing it is you want to know.
  3. Interview the trainers or companies that you found in #2 and see which resonates best with you.
  4. Make a decision and move forward. Take action. If not, you will be sitting around wondering about it all next year too. Many people call her and say, “I’m still in my living room thinking about it! Help, I’m scared to move forward.” This is what often is behind the hesitation to move forward. So when you choose a program, make sure they are supportive.
  5. Deanna’s specialty: If your main goal right now is to create a plan utilizing all your present experience, gifts, training and expertise to serve the dying, then THAT is her area of expertise. She is known for being the “pull it all together person.” It is her philosophy that you are wise, with a lifetime of experiences and skills and with your own vision; what she adds is her part–the specific knowledge, exact tools and awarenesses, and expertise in not only end of life caring but also end-of-life professional service. 

Are there other people interested in this? YES!

People from all backgrounds and skillsets are drawn to accompany the dying.

More Resources

Deanna offers a variety of ways to learn more about this beautiful practice. Check out:

  1. End-of-Life Doula Interest (Quiz)
  2. Foundation End-of-Life Doula Course (no cost)
  3. End-of-Life Doula YouTube Channel
  4. End-of-Life Doula Free Training
  5. Deanna’s Book, “Accompanying the Dying: Practical, Heart-Centered Wisdom for End-of-Life Doulas and Healthcare Advocates.” 
  6. Deanna’s Book (Spanish Edition), Acompañando a los moribundos: Sabiduría práctica desde el corazón para doulas del fin de vida y defensores en el sector salud 

Considering a Deeper Dive?

If you already know that you want to be an End-of-Life Doula, and you would like to study with us, please take our free training and learn our approach and you will be guided to talk with us. Register Here. 


Common Question 

I would love to train to become an End-of-Life Doula! Do you have to have a medical background? Or can anyone do it?

Yes! Anyone can do this. It is for the person serious about reducing suffering at the end of life–regardless if they want to do this professionally or not. Deanna’s main motivation in her work is to empower a person to reduce suffering at the end of life. She excels at mentoring people who want to do this role professionally and she also believes that every single person who is drawn to study end of life care, will deeply affect the people in their circles over their lifetime. In our CareDoula School, we have people who just want to be the ‘go-to’ person amongst their family, friends, volunteers, healthcare professionals, people who have absolutely no background in healthcare and everything in between! Deanna’s desire is to guide you to serve the dying and reduce suffering at the end of life.  


Important: Please Review!

  • The Evolution of the Doula Role – Read Here!
  • What does “Certified End-of-Life Doula” mean? – Read Here!

Helpful Information


End-of-life doulas (EOLDs) provide non-medical, holistic support and comfort to people preparing for, or experiencing end of life by offering education and guidance; emotional, social, and spiritual care; logistical and practical assistance, and more–before during and after death. End-of-life doulas complement and supplement the work of family and other caregivers (including hospice providers).

– National End-of-Life Doula Alliance (NEDA), 2025.

Register below for our free training: “Create an End-of-Life Service Without Working in Healthcare.”

Each aspect of your free training gives me questions to consider as I decide what path I would like to take with this. It also gives many different persons and websites to further research and find information.
 
The biggest advantage of the free training for me, however, is Deanna herself. Her demeanor is soft, compassionate and completely genuine. I feel like if she were at my bedside, I could get through whatever I was facing. It also encourages me to keep being myself through this process, and to bring to end of life work my truest, most authentic self. Thank you so much Deanna. 
-Vanessa W

There is such a groundswell of information, enthusiasm, and fresh ideas. I’m just paying attention to it all and noodling around with how I might be able to contribute in the future…I’m not sure what my path looks like just yet, but I so appreciate the work that you’re doing to help people along the way. You are doing such important work, and your presence, even just on camera, is calm, deep, and full of kindness. You are a wonderful spokesperson for this movement, and I just wanted to reaffirm that you are reaching people and making a difference. – Mary W.