When is it time to consider adding a doula to your team?
Is time limited due to a terminal diagnosis?
Are you tending to a loved one and don’t know how to be helpful?
Did you hear the word ‘hospice’ and can’t wrap your head around the idea?
Are you grieving the loss of a dear friend or family member and feel lost?
Are you a caregiver to a family member or friend and need a little support or respite?
Do you need an advocate at your next physician’s visit?
It might be time to call the doula.
Navigating serious illness can be a lonely place. It is easy to spin out of control on some days, be empowered on other days, and occasionally curl up with your favorite blanket and give yourself a well-deserved ‘time out’ day. Giving yourself permission to embrace all the messy work that goes along with such raw emotion is a great start.
Some people recruit a team to assist with a few of the challenges. Others want privacy and solitude while they face big decisions about their care. Occasionally, denial is the place we need to live until we are ready to take the next step. The message here is that the journey is yours and you can write the script.
Is it time for a doula? A doula will give you the space to sort out your emotions. A doula is that caring, neutral person in your orbit whose feelings won’t be hurt if you are having a bad day. A doula will provide respite for your caregiving spouse/family member. Some doulas (not all) will attend a medical appointment with you and be another set of eyes and ears. Many doulas are well-versed in hospice care; some are volunteers with hospice in addition to their own doula work. Doulas are not a replacement for hospice, but they are familiar with hospice services in the area. Doulas are also very well-connected in the end-of-life community so if they don’t know the answer, they know someone who does. In other words, doulas ‘have people’.
Obviously, you have read this far so you might be thinking about reaching out to a doula. Call one; call a few and check out the chemistry. It is never too soon to have another member on your team.
I am here to answer your questions and would be honored to be a part of your journey.