Ask a Death Doula

Join the Next FREE Death Doula Global Training: https://www.doulagivers.com/monthly-f...   One diagnosis. One fall. One hospital stay. Suddenly, you’re a caregiver—taking on responsibilities no one taught you how to manage. In this episode of Ask a Death Doula, Suzanne B. O’Brien, RN, explores the caregiving crisis and the families navigating it without adequate preparation, knowledge, or support....

Join the Next FREE Death Doula Global Training: https://www.doulagivers.com/monthly-f...   What if we haven’t forgotten how to care for one another at the end of life—we simply need to remember? For generations, families and communities gathered around people who were dying. They offered comfort, shared rituals, and understood death as a natural part of life. Today, many families reach the end of...

Join the Next FREE Death Doula Global Training: https://www.doulagivers.com/monthly-f... I’m honored that Doulagivers and I are featured in Grandma Stand, a documentary available on PBS. In New York City’s Central Park, grandmothers sit at a stand and offer something many people are longing for: a listening ear, honest conversation, and wisdom earned through living. In this episode of Ask a Death...

Join the Next FREE Death Doula Global Training: https://www.doulagivers.com/monthly-free-class-register When someone we love stops eating and drinking, families often panic. Are they starving? Are they thirsty? Should I try to get just one more sip into them? I understand that fear. After more than 20 years at the bedside, I’ve seen how quickly this moment can change the way a family feels. That i...

Join the Next FREE Death Doula Global Training: https://www.doulagivers.com/monthly-f.. .  What do the dying know that the rest of us have forgotten? After more than 25 years accompanying people at the end of life, I’ve been with over 1,000 people as they approached death. Again and again, I heard remarkably similar insights about love, connection, forgiveness, and what matters most. In June, I sh...

Join the Next FREE Death Doula Global Training: https://www.doulagivers.com/monthly-f... For the last hundred years, we have slowly moved away from one of our most important human responsibilities: community taking care of community. Today, millions of family caregivers are expected to carry an enormous responsibility almost entirely alone. They are overwhelmed, overburdened, exhausted, lonely, an...

Join the Next FREE Death Doula Global Training:  ​​​In This Free Training, You’ll Learn: 1) The 3 Phases of End of Life How to recognize the Shock, Stabilization, and Transition phases and what each one needs. 2) What Families Can Expect Common physical, emotional, and spiritual changes as someone approaches death. 3) How to Provide Real Comfort & Support Simple, non‑medical comfort measures a...

When a family hears the words “hospice care,” they often believe hospice will come into the home and provide all the daily, hands-on care their loved one needs. Sadly, that is not how home hospice usually works. The word care means providing what someone needs for their health, comfort, safety, and well-being. It sounds like someone will be there doing the caregiving. The word consulting means giv...

What if creating a better future isn’t about continuing to build more—but about regenerating what we have lost? In this inspiring episode of Ask a Death Doula, Suzanne B. O’Brien welcomes visionary community builder, regenerative placemaker, and author Tony Cho for a powerful conversation about the growing movement to restore balance between people, community, and the planet. Tony’s book, Generati...

☀️Join Me For The DEATH DOULA BOOTCAMP August 27th-29th https://www.deathdoulabootcamp.com What if the greatest solution to our aging and end-of-life crisis isn't building another system—but remembering what we've forgotten? For generations, communities naturally cared for one another through illness, caregiving, dying, and grief. Today, many families face these experiences feeling isolated, overw...

Death Doula Business Bootcamp: Is This Your Calling? ☀️Join Me For The DEATH DOULA BOOTCAMP August 27th-29th https://www.deathdoulabootcamp.com What if the work you're meant to do has been quietly calling you all along? Across the world, families are caring for loved ones through aging, serious illness, and the end of life with very little preparation or support. Most people don't realize that fam...

For years, people have come to me asking one question: "How do I become a death doula?" At the very beginning,  my answer was straightforward: become certified. Today, my answer is different. In this episode, I share why the future of this movement is no longer about earning another certificate—it's about becoming a full spectrum educator who brings compassionate community care back where it belon...

As Medical Aid in Dying (MAID) legislation continues to expand across the United States and around the world, one important question deserves deeper exploration: Are people choosing Medical Aid in Dying because they truly want to die—or because they're afraid of how they believe they will die? In this thought-provoking episode of Ask a Death Doula, Suzanne B. O'Brien, RN, Founder of Doulagivers In...

What if everything we've been taught about success is incomplete? From the time we're young, we're taught that success looks like achievement, titles, promotions, money, recognition, and checking all the boxes. But what happens when you finally arrive... and something still feels missing? In this powerful episode of Ask a Death Doula, Suzanne B. O'Brien sits down with Kerrie Lee Brown, award-winni...

What if the future of end-of-life care isn't found inside the healthcare system—but within our communities? In this powerful episode of Ask a Death Doula, Suzanne B. O'Brien, RN, shares why the global death doula movement has reached a pivotal moment—and why it's time for its next evolution. Drawing from more than 20 years as a hospice and oncology nurse and over 1,000 bedside experiences, Suzanne...

What happens when you listen to the quiet voice in your heart and trust where it leads? In this inspiring episode, Suzanne B. O'Brien sits down with Doulagivers graduate Killy Sanchez from Guatemala to explore a remarkable journey that began with caring for her mother and grew into a calling that is now touching lives around the world. Like so many people, Killy first entered the world of caregivi...

Is the Medical Aid in Dying Movement Opening Up a Bigger Conversation? As Medical Aid in Dying (MAID) legislation continues to expand across the United States, a deeper question is emerging: What is really driving the conversation? In this episode, Suzanne B. O'Brien, RN, Founder and CEO of Doulagivers Institute and author of The Good Death, explores the growing movement around Medical Aid in Dyin...

What if success wasn't measured by titles, status, or income alone? What if true success was measured by fulfillment, purpose, compassion, presence, and the impact we leave on others? In this special Doulagivers Graduate Spotlight episode, we are honored to introduce Yasmeen Fatima—author, Certified Doulagiver, and a beautiful example of what becomes possible when we follow the quiet calling of th...

In this special birthday episode, Suzanne reflects on turning 59 and shares some of the greatest lessons she has learned from caring for more than 1,000 people at the end of life and training over 400,000 people to care for the dying. What do those nearing the end of life teach us about how to live? Again and again, they remind us that time is our most precious resource. They remind us not to wait...

In this deeply important and heartfelt episode, hospice and oncology nurse, death doula educator, and founder of the Doulagivers Institute https://doulagivers.com, Suzanne B. O’Brien RN, shares the truth about why so many end-of-life experiences today are filled with fear, overwhelm, and unnecessary suffering. After supporting over a thousand people at the end of life, Suzanne explains that the pr...

In this deeply emotional Mother’s Day episode, Suzanne B. O’Brien RN shares one of the most sacred callings many of us will ever experience: walking our mothers home at the end of life. As daughters, mothers, caregivers, nurses, and women in community, we are so often the ones called forward to care for those we love through aging, illness, and the final transition. Yet most families today are try...

This is a moment in time that marks a profound shift in how we care for one another. In this powerful episode, Suzanne B. O’Brien, RN—founder of the Doulagivers Institute—announces a historic expansion of the Doulagivers Death Doula World Training, now available in 15 different languages. For the first time in modern history, people around the world can access free, life-changing education that te...

In this powerful and necessary episode of Ask a Death Doula, Suzanne B. O’Brien, RN, shares the essential questions every aspiring death doula must ask before choosing a training program. With the rapid growth of the death doula profession, not all trainings are created equal. This episode is a call to discernment, integrity, and responsibility—because the work of supporting individuals and famili...

In this deeply moving and expansive episode, Suzanne shares her personal experience traveling to Thailand to train Buddhist monks in end-of-life care through the Doulagivers program. What unfolds is a powerful reminder that while cultures, traditions, and languages may differ, the heart of caring for someone at the end of life is universal. Through moments of connection, humility, and shared wisdo...

In this special episode, Suzanne B. O’Brien, RN—founder of the Doulagivers Institute—announces the 8th Annual Death Doula World Training Day, taking place on April 22nd at 7 PM ET. This global event is more than a training—it’s a movement. With over 400,000 people trained in 39+ countries, Death Doula World Training Day continues to bring together individuals, caregivers, and professionals from ar...