The history below is from what I experienced and witnessed (Deanna Flores Cochran). Please contact me if you have more information to add, especially during the years prior to 2015, as most is known after then. This is a dynamic love project of recording. Email me at support(at)caredoulaeducation(dot)com and please put “Doula History Addition” in the subject line. I cannot wait to hear from you!

[Pictured from Left to Right]: The hospice movement began in the late 1960’s (Dame Cicely Saunders, founder of the Modern Hospice Movement) → Next is a picture of a birth doula, Phyllis Farley, who attended an end-of-life seminar at Shira Ruskay Center 1998 → this led to the development of ‘Doulas to Accompany and Support’ Program in 2001still led by Amy Levine → Next was the first hospice to develop an end-of-life doula program in NYC by Henry Fersko-Weiss → Quality of Life Care, LLC (my company) was created in 2005 providing end-of-life doula services and palliative education and in 2010 developed the premier End-of-Life Doula Certificate Program → explosion of the role!
Listed in no particular order, consider:
All of these “movements” above (not an exhaustive list) contributed to the development of bringing peace and possibilities to people’s lives as they live and die with serious illness. And these people and organizations contributed in major ways to the choices and awareness we have today and to the development of the end-of-life doula role as we know it and as it continues to evolve. There are trailblazers in other countries that have been tirelessly clearing a path as well.
The next biggest contribution to what is going on today is the “Death Cafe,” which began in 2011 by Jon Underwood. A Death Cafe is a gathering of people who meet up in a nonthreatening environment (they have coffee, eat cake, and talk about death). Shortly thereafter, many “talk about death” platforms were created and many amazing people, authors, and thought leaders have joined the scene, especially since 2016. Now, search the term ‘death doula’ and you will find hundreds of private practice doulas, collectives, news articles, initiatives, organizations, and trainings. We are on the map!
The first End-of-Life Doula Certificate Program in the United States was developed by Deanna Cochran, RN, in response to a flood of inquiries over the years about her own professional end-of-life doula practice. She began to serve in this capacity in 2005 after the death of her mother. This was the first time a certificate program which included laypeople, as well as healthcare professionals, was available.
There is no International, National, or State Organization that requires Board Certification in our end-of-life doula field in the United States or any other country at this time. The creation of a Board requiring licensure (like physicians or RNs must do) is unlikely as the end-of-life doula role is a non-medical one. Creating a Board is a strict process that takes many people’s hard work and years to form. It would involve components from a variety of of healthcare disciplines as well as leading end-of-life professionals. This is unlikely to happen as, again, we are a non-medical role. The birth doulas do not even have a Board for their role and they care for babies! It would be an enormous undertaking. Most in the field are not sure this would be beneficial for anyone at this time.
However, we do have a nonprofit membership organization, the National End-of-Life Doula Alliance, NEDA, which has set the standard for professional end-of-life doulas and continues to lead as this role evolves. It was through the hard work of several End-of-Life Doula Trainers & Activists that NEDA was founded in 2017.
Also, in February 2018, The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization invited end-of-life doulas to the table. Deanna received a phone call from then Director of Governance and Board Relations within the NHPCO, Beth Fells, inviting end-of-life doulas to educate member hospice and palliative care organizations about what end-of-life doulas are and how to utilize us. The End-of-Life Doula Advisory Council was born. John Mastrojohn, COO of NHPCO at the time, saw the potential of this new group of service providers. Had he not been the visionary that he was, the Council may never have come into being. We owe a lot to him.


The inaugural meeting of the NHPCO End-of-Life Doula Advisory Council was in April 2018.
End-of-life Doulas are now recognized by mainstream healthcare organizations and it is only a matter of time before end-of-life doulas are known just like the birth doulas are now.
It is beyond anything I could have imagined that our oldest and largest hospice trade organization would recognize end-of-life doulas on this scale. This is one of the single most important developments in our history and the pinnacle of my career to have played a part in it.
Anyone can do this service as it is a human, loving witness and presence. Some feel inspired to be the go-to person for their circles of family, friends and colleagues and some feel inspired to volunteer and some to professional service. Regardless of how you want to be of service at the end of life, there is a place for you, a community for you and support for you. If you choose to serve professionally, all that I have described is what is giving you the platform you have today.
Those of you that follow will create even more going forward as expansion is the nature of the human experience.
You could practice on your own, but why would you want to? Lets join together and support our families and hospices in community.
We are stronger together.
