Having had many opportunities to be with the dying and their families I continue to grow in the wisdom that I will never know it all and embrace being a lifetime seeker of knowledge in this area.
I will be with family, the person at end of life and encourage the village mindedness to come together to be a calm environment at the time of death and afterwards for loved ones.
Testimonial:
My family met Annie when my Dad, was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease. We were struggling to understand the disease, the health care services, the practical steps that had to be organised and the emotions. Annie helped us in so many ways. She gently guided us through the system and helped us make decisions that ensured he was able to die at home with his wife, kids and grandchildren by his side. He was safe and supported and so were we. We were empowered to look after him in our way. Annie managed to provide us all with a blanket of care that stretched from dealing with the aged care system, liaising with health care providers, supporting us to work out a plan for dad’s death that satisfied his desires and our needs and allowing all of us to have the difficult conversations that we needed to have. She was calm, caring and made us feel that no question was silly and no emotion was unimportant. She became a trusted friend of the family and a confidant and companion for dad. We were so lucky to find Annie and I believe that in an ideal world every person would be able to access the services of an end of life doula to support them thorough this important time. Thank you Annie.

Virginia, daughter