Many of you who have had children had a birth doula. If you didn’t have a birth doula or haven’t had a child, you probably have a rough idea of what a birth doula is and what they do. But… have you ever heard of a death doula?

I can roughly trace back my first exposure to death doulas around 2011, a sophomore in high school writing a discursive essay on physician assisted death, but that’s about it. It was one of those days where you’re doing nothing important, washing the dishes, folding laundry, that a random memory pops up out of nowhere that I suddenly remembered “Oh! Death doulas! I want to meet one.” I did a quick Instagram search of the term death doula, didn’t find many, but did find Hannah Elder, an LA-based death doula, yoga instructor, and actor.

Today, you’ll be lucky enough to hear from her. She’s delightful, endearing, w ...