What Is an End-of-Life Doula?
An End-of-Life Doula - also known as a Death Doula — is a compassionate guide who supports individuals and families emotionally, spiritually, and practically through the dying process. Much like a birth doula assists in welcoming life, an End-of-Life Doula helps people and their loved ones approach life’s final chapter with presence, peace, and meaning.
End-of-Life Doulas do not replace medical or hospice care. Instead, they complement those services by offering personalized, non-medical end-of-life support that focuses on comfort, advocacy, and connection. Their presence helps people feel seen, heard, supported, grounded and cared for through grief, transition, and remembrance.
What is the Role of an End-of-Life Doula?
The work of an End of Life Doula is inspired by ancient traditions of caregiving, ritual, and community support around death and dying. While the term “EoLD” is modern, the practice itself exists across cultures—rooted in compassion, presence, and care.
Today, doulas help bridge the gap between clinical care and emotional healing, offering continuity, understanding, and space for reflection when families need it most. Whether guiding conversations, supporting the individual and their family in their grief, sitting vigil, or helping someone leave behind a legacy, doulas remind us that dying is as much a part of life as living.
What Kind of Support Can an End-of-Life Doula Offer?
Every person’s experience is unique, and so is the role of a End of Life Doula.
Support may include:
Sitting vigil and offering calm, grounding presence during final hours
Helping with legacy projects—letters, recordings, or memory albums
Facilitating conversations about values, meaning, or spiritual preparation
Providing emotional support and education for family members and caregivers
Offering grief-informed guidance before, during, and after death
Creating calming spaces with music, poetry, candlelight, or rituals
Advocating for comfort and care that align with the person’s wishes
Through each gesture—listening, witnessing, or simply being—doulas help bring dignity, beauty, peace and connection to every moment.
When Should I Connect with an End-of-Life Doula?
The best time to reach out is before a health crisis. Engaging early allows space to build trust, explore care preferences, and establish a supportive relationship that reflects your values and wishes.
Still, it’s never too late to invite a doula into your circle of care. Even during active dying, a doula’s calm presence helps families understand what to expect physically and emotionally, offering comfort, sacred silence, or gentle guidance as needed.
What Carolyn Murton Offers — and What Makes Her Different
Every end-of-life story is unique. My role as a Grief Counsellor and certified End-of-Life Doula in Vancouver, BC, Canada is to provide a calm, compassionate presence throughout life’s most tender transitions.
If you’re searching for end-of-life or grief support in Vancouver or elsewhere in BC, I bring decades of experience and a commitment to ensuring no one walks this path alone.
I Offer
Grief counselling for individuals and families coping with loss in its many forms
End-of-life discussions to create space for reflection, meaning, and emotional preparation
End-of-life planning, including advance care wishes and legacy projects
End-of-life support for patients, caregivers, and loved ones during active dying
My Background
I am a certified End-of-Life Doula, a graduate of Rhodes College, and a grief specialist with Patient Pathways in Vancouver, BC. Before becoming a doula, I spent 40 years as a mental health nurse in Ontario, working in both adult and child/adolescent psychiatry. Throughout those decades, I accompanied countless individuals and families through profound challenges, loss, and healing.
Because I have also lived through many personal losses, I deeply understand the need for compassionate, nonjudgmental support—someone who truly listens and walks alongside you. My work weaves professional experience with genuine empathy and presence.
Community Commitments
Peer Support Volunteer, MAiD Family Support Society (MFSS) — providing compassionate support to those anticipating or coping with a Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) provision for a loved one.
Ambassador, The Waiting Room Revolution — leading workshops that help individuals and families navigate a life-changing diagnosis with knowledge, courage, and connection.
Member, End of Life Doula Association of Canada — upholding national standards of ethics, excellence, and compassionate care.
My community involvement helps shape a practice that is trauma-informed, inclusive, and grounded in both clinical understanding and heartfelt humanity.
A Compassionate Invitation
End-of-life care is not about giving up—it’s about honouring life’s final chapter with love, intention, and presence. Whether you’re planning ahead, supporting someone you love, or exploring grief counselling in Vancouver, compassionate help is here, and I warmly invite you to reach out. Let’s begin a conversation about what matters most to you—and how we can walk this path together, with calm, compassion, and dignity.
The end of life deserves the same tenderness, respect, and care as the beginning.
Serving Vancouver, North Vancouver, Burnaby, and communities across British Columbia both in person and online.