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Dying and Death Options |
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Death
Midwifery & Related Support Systems
On this page:
 overview
of Death Midwifery
Death
Midwives and Related Support Systems - General, Canada, U.S.
and U.K.
Books
on Death Midwifery
 Pagan
Resources
Pagan
Death Midwife-related training
Books
on a Pagan approach to death
Overview
of Death Midwifery
In
ancient times, it was most often those who attended births,
who also cared for the dying and helped them make the transition
beyond. For
this reason, the practice of caring for the dying is often
referred to as 'Death Midwifery'.
In
modern times, it is the equivalent of spiritual and physical
hospice care (either in a hospice house or in one's own home)
but also often includes all the preparations for burial/etc.,
the funeral/memorial services itself, the burying of remains
or scattering of ashes, and grief counselling for those left
behind.
A
Death Midwife (whether called
that specifically or not) may support the family through the
whole process from the declaration of terminalness and/or
incapacitation, through to (especially) the first year of
grieving of family and friends (although it may not be the
same people dealing with each stage).However,
there is a growing network of Palliative Care nurses and Hospice
organizations (providing care in a Hospice unit in a hospital,
and for those dying at home or in residential care), and Bereavement
Counsellors 
which may come under one's health care insurance.Therefore,
it is likely that a modern-day Death
Midwife would be focusing on faciliating the family's
ability to care for their loved one
as 'hands on' as they are comfortable with
through the active dying stage; cleaning and dressing the
body; naturally preserving the body so that other family and
friends can say 'goodbye', and/or preparing a wake; support
with arrangements for the burial (Green or traditional, or
cremation); and designing a personalized funeral or memorial.Over
the past several years, more and more organizations have been
developing specifically to do this kind of work (see links
below) and teaching others how to do it (including information
on all of the legal issues involved).
The
support of Hospice 'in home' service or a Death
Midwife allows for the kind of personalized care that
may not be possible in a hospital or even a Hospice Home/Unit.
Your loved one's specific wishes can be followed
whether that involves alternative types of 'comfort care'
(such as Reiki, Bedside
Singing, etc.), environment and visitation,
etc.; and especially if they have completed an Advance Directive/'Living
Will' (contact
us for information on comprehensive Advance
Directives and Expressed Wishes, and Representation Agreements).Equally
important is the fact that caring for loved ones as they die
is an important part of family and friends truly/emotionally
acknowledging the dying process and the eventual death, and
opening themselves to the depth of grieving and transitioning
through it.Although
our culture has been trained to remove themselves from all
of the aspects of death, it has been to our detriment: and
especially over the past decade, more and more people are
choosing to be directly involved with both the dying process
both before and after the death (see
Other
Natural Dying Options & Resources
for a wide variety of further support systems and resources).
Death
Midwives also help guide the family through the after-death
care.Because
of our cultural training in death, most people assume that
there is no option to the very expensive (and often de-personalized)
funeral homes
embalming, elaborate coffins, concrete grave-liners (in the
ground), cemetery plots, etc.
but that is not the case.
There are legal requirements for various parts of the death
process; but in most regions of North America, most or all
of them can be carried out by the family (or Death Midwifing
group). There
are a growing number of Funeral Celebrants, who focus on designing
personalized memorials/funerals
including non-religious ones.In
some places, the dead can be buried on their own property,
as long as certain requirements are met. Many
people have chosen cremation to avoid the expensive processes
of burial, but these are also often almost as elaborate as
a funeral
and only slightly less expensive. There
is a general assumption that cremation is more ecologically-friendly
than (traditional) burial
and while it generally is, there are issues being raised about
the environmental damage from it as well (see page on Natural
and Green Burial options).
Attitudes
towards dying and death are changing radically in modern times.
More
and more people want to die at home with no special medical
life-continuing measures, simple funerals/memorials, and Green
Burials. Memorial
societies
across Canada, the U.S. and the U.K.
as well as Hospice Societies and Hospital Chaplancies, are
often supporting the movement towards a more natural dying
process.
Death
Midwives and related services
- each site offers resource information on natural death processes,
funeral/memorial services, green burials, etc.
General
 Death
Midwifery Live Journal
articles, discussion, etc.
for those interested in developing
Death Midwifery options.
Bedside Singing Resources
for Canada, U.S.A. and U.K.
see this section on Other
Natural Death Options and Resource
Canada
Death
Midwifery Canada
support egroup for those involved in some aspects of the development
of Death Midwifery in Canada (contact
us to subscribe)
CINDEA
Canadian Integrative Network for Death
Education and Alternatives
resources on pan-death options including
Death Midwifery (Advance Care Planning, Post-death Care, etc.)
Journeying
Beyond
Death
Midwifery and 'end of life' consultant services
Victoria, B.C. Contact
Pashta at
Email:contact@beyonds.ca
or
Tel:
(250) 383-4065
also
En~chanting
Beyond
Bedside Singing
for the dying and Death Midwifery services
or E~merging
Beyond
Transformative/Interest-based mediation, with a focus on helping
families through the difficult times around a family death
Remember
Network
creative funeral/memorial services
support to develop them where and how the family wishes
Toronto, Ontario.Email:
info@RememberNetwork.ca
Voluntas
creative alternative to traditional Funeral Services (related
to Remember Network)
Montreal, Quebec.
scote@voluntas.ca
Beyond
Yonder Death Midwifery
witness death, dying, post death care and grief Cape
Breton, Nova Scotia. Contact Cassandra at Email:beyondyonder@deathmidwifery.ca
U.S.
Home
Funeral Directory
list of services offered in the U.S., state by state (more
than below and updated)
National
Home Funeral Alliance
new alliance of Home Funeral (and Death Midwifery)
organizations providing advocacy on the value of home funerals,
green burials, etc.
A
Sacred Moment
Char Barrett
Seattle, Washington state
Red
Cabin Wellness
Joyce Barron Washington
State, Lake Tapps (Death Midwife, Birth Doula, and
Clutter Clearing services)
Beyond
Hospice
Death Midwifery and Home Funeral Guides training in Texas
(connected to Crossing Care Circle)
Ceremonies
for Life's Thresholds
Nora Cedarwind Young (ordained
Priestess and Hospice Chaplain)
Olympic Peninsula
in Washington state
Crossings
Elizabeth Knox
Takoma Park,
Maryland
Crossing
Care Circle
Donna Belk and Sandy Booth
Texas
and Texas
Home Funerals
including training
available in Austin and other citities in Texas
Doula
for the Dying
Austin, Texas
Deanna Cochran, RN, BA Certified Hospice & Palliative
Nurse Emial: deanna(at)aGentleGuide(dot)com
Final
Passages or Natural
Death Care Project (same site)
Jerrigrace Lyons, based in California
training available
Sacred
Crossings
Olivia Bareham
Los Angles, California
Soul's
Journey Services
Marilyn Strong
Washington state
Thesholds
Barbara Kernan and Eric W. Putt
Lakeside, California
U.K.
Soul
Midwives Foundation
including a registry
of trained Soul Midwives and
training
courses Email: info@soulmidwives.co.uk
Books
or Instructions on Death Midwifery
The
Art of Death Midwifery - An Introduction and Beginner's Guide,
Authored by Joellyn St. Pierre DDiv Publication Date:Apr 27
2009 ISBN/EAN13:1439229066 / 9781439229064
Caring
for the Dead:Your Final Act of Love
by Lisa Carlson
Gentle
Dying - a simple guide to achieving a peaceful death
by Felicity Warner
Midwife
for Souls: Spiritual Care for the Dying,
by Kathy Kalina
The
Pagan Book on Living and Dying
by Stawhawk,with M. Macha Nightmare
and the Reclaiming Collective
death rites for various situations
ComfortDying
list of books on home funerals,
etc.
A
Neo-Pagan Natural Burial
instructions on post-death care and natural burials for Pagans
Pagan
Resources
As
the Pagan community grows older, our members will have face
all the issues of how they chose to die, what rites they want
performed and how, and what they want done with their remains.
In a mini-survey on death that PPO conducted (for an inter-faith
panel on Death), most Pagans stated that they would prefer
a Death Midwife (or group), no embalming, a Pagan requiem
or memorial, and for their remains to return to the Earth
in the most ecological way possible.
The
Pagan Book on Living and Dying
by Stawhawk,with M. Macha Nightmare
and the Reclaiming Collective
death rites for various situations
Pagan
Transitions (U.K.)
various articles on dealing with
death (bereavement, natural death processes, green burials,
books, poetry/prayers, rituals,
etc.) from a Pagan perspective.
Immarama
Pagan Death-midwifery and burial
instructions
directed at neo-Pagans, but applicable
to all religious (and non-religious) faiths
covering natural burials, preparation
of the body, shrouding, preparation of gravesite, concerns,
etc.
Echoed
Voices
Macha Nightmare's overview of
Pagan death processes
Tryskelion
variety of Pagan options
Sacred
Flame circle
funeral rites
Ivy's
Pentacles
Pagan Requiem
Moon
Dragon
various death rites
Pagan
Transitions
various death rites and links to more
Pagan
Death Midwife-related training
Cherry
Hill Seminary
is a specifically Pagan seminary, offering a variety of pastoral
training programs with some on-line courses.We
are looking for Canadian students who would be willing
to write a testimonial on Cherry Hill's programs - please
contact
usSee
Cherry
Hill Testimonials
Cherry
Hill course list
of particular interest to those
involved with pastoral care
Call of
the Dark Mother: Working with the Dying, Death and Grieving
- PMC611
A survey course in death, dying and grieving to better prepare
Pagans who hear the call to this sacred work, and also those
who encounter it as part of their overall priest/esshood.
Introduction to Pagan Pastoral
Counseling
This course will explore a variety of Pagan and other models
of pastoral counseling.
Each student will develop a personal understanding of what
pastoral counseling means to them, within the context of
their own Pagan beliefs and community.
We will also examine some of the typical situations in which
people seek the counsel of their clergy, and some helpful
approaches to dealing with these situations. (and further
electives in pastoral care).
Survey
of Chaplaincy - PMI620, PCA620
This class will explore the issues faced by Pagan clergy
who minister to the religious needs of our people within
non-Pagan institutional settings, such as college campuses,
hospitals, military bases and prisons. Each
of these situations presents specific spiritual challenges.
Chaplains
also need to work with non-Pagan colleagues and administrators,
some of whom are clergy of other religions, and to comply
with institutional procedures and other requirements. By
keeping their balance, Pagan chaplains bring spiritual support
and guidance to Pagans in unusual situations.
Books
on a Pagan approach to death
The
Pagan Book of Living and Dying
the Reclaiming Collective. An
excellent book including meditations and reflections on death
and dying, funerals, supporting carers and the bereaved, poetry,
and much more. Highly
recommended.
The
Druid Way by Philip Carr-Gomm is all about the
journey of life-and-death and has a sample funeral.
A Druid
Funeral (booklet published by The British Druid
Order), available from The
Druid Network.
The
New Book of the Dead by Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki
A book of rituals and meditations for the process of dying,
coming to terms with grief, and funeral rites.
A Witch
Amongst Us by Lois Bourne
Includes some excellent and very interesting material on her
time as a nurse, when she spent a lot of time nursing the
terminally ill, and saw their deceased relatives coming to
guide them on the way to the other world.
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