Hello, welcome and thank you for visiting my website.
I’d like to share how I became a death doula and why this work is so very important to me. In August 2021, my mother Sharon passed away in a Toronto emergency department. Unbeknown to us, she had developed sepsis via a chemo port, inserted a week prior for Stage 1 pancreatic cancer. This experience was very traumatic for my sister and I. Complicating this trauma was a lack of emotional and psychological support offered in the hospital while we watched my mother die. It forced me to consider how many other people have these experiences without support and how many people die without any kind of support? The answer is many. In fact, within the next 20 years Canadians will experience a ‘silver tsunami’ of aging population without the social supports (people) to care for these folks. This is unacceptable, as every person deserves to have a death in safety, comfort, care and love. While local hospice organizations work diligently to help, there is a lack of caretakers for the dying and this will only increase in the future. Birth and death are the bookends to life, yet one is celebrated and the other ignored to a certain degree. This must change, so that all people have the support needed during death.
This inspired me to change careers from being a goldsmith/jeweler to an end-of-life doula. I gained my death doula training through the wonderful DoulaGivers organization and am also a hospice volunteer for Toronto Hospice. Furthermore, I hold a certificate in Palliative Care from Durham College and am currently working through my Thanatology Certificate.
I am honored to journey with those who are at the end of life and strive to create a safe and loving atmosphere for this journey. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions and inquires.