Death midwiferY Services
“Death needs a new cosmology. Death is not a black hole where things cease to be. If you want to live well, keep death close. Hope includes hopelessness and grieving is showing gratitude for that which has been lost. What would it be like to treat grief as power? Even our hopelessness as a form of decomposing and falling away that is sacred.”
— Bayo Akomolafe
While much of my work focuses on what is unfolding in the collective, I also offer death midwifery services. Our individual experience of loss and the death of the physical body is connected to loss in the collective and, likewise, what is happening in the collective shapes our individual experience of loss. I believe that each of the below services assist in strengthening our grief and death literacy–impacting the way we show up for ourselves and others in future loss.
I offer death midwifery services on an individual basis. Each experience of death and loss is unique– offering these services on an individual basis best allows us to create an experience that is most tailored to your situation.
If you or a loved one are interested in any of these services, I look forward to visiting and learning more about how I can best support you. Please fill out the contact form to schedule a free 15-minute conversation.
general grief support
Our grief shows up in numerous ways and for numerous reasons! Whether you have experienced the death of a person or pet in your life, are facing an ambiguous loss, or struggling to support others in their time of grief, I offer one-on-one sessions to support you as you navigate this grief.
These are 50-minute one-on-one sessions where I hold space and listen. I may integrate somatic practice, a reading, or other creative activity if doing so is supportive to you in your process.
Individuals may find one session is what is needed; multiple session options are also available.
Sessions are held on the phone or over Zoom.
home funeral
A home funeral is an alternative to dominant culture’s approach to the body after death. Instead of the body immediately being whisked away by a funeral home, a home funeral provides more time, space, and choice in how you say goodbye to and grieve your loved one. There are laws that guide how long a body can be kept at home (in Minnesota this is 72-hours) and on how to preserve the body while at home.
A home funeral will not always be a feasible option–when it is, there are numerous ways to create a meaningful and extended experience while the body remains at home.
Examples of what I offer:
Home funeral education: laws about properly preserving a body and how long a body can be kept in the home, burial vessels, and practices caring for the body after death.
Logistic arrangements: tasks such as arranging transport of the body, connection with a funeral home, and food, communication, and care needs of the bereaved, etc.
Ritual/Ceremony: Designing a ritual or ceremony to honor your loved one or facilitating the wrapping of the body, for example.
pregnancy and child loss
As a full-spectrum birth doula and maternal and child health-focused public health professional, I have tender place for those facing pregnancy and child loss.In addition to my training, my lived experience of losing a sibling in childhood and my own struggles with infertility inform my work.
Examples of what I offer:
Emergent death and grief care: Pregnancy and child loss often occur suddenly or unexpectedly. Thus more immediate needs exist (e.g., arranging meals or care for other children or pets).
Logistic arrangements: Such as communication with other loved ones and professionals (hospital staff or a funeral home, for example), referrals to other needed services, etc.
Creating ritual and/or ceremony as part of honoring this loss
One-on-one grief support
Ritual and Ceremony
Taking time to witness and honor a death or loss is foundational in integrating the loss. Used in many threshold crossings, ritual and ceremony are tools that have the capacity to ground us in a specific place and time, name the reality of the loss, and make space for feelings associated with the loss. Our bodies, then, will be able to recall this observance supporting us over time.
Examples of what I offer:
Preparing the space and sitting vigil with a dying person and the bereaved.
Creating a ritual or ceremony for the time before death, after death, and for ongoing grief care.
Offering resources for ongoing ritual and ceremony design.
