Updated
Updated · BBC.com · May 2
End of Life Doula UK membership surges in 2025
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · May 2

End of Life Doula UK membership surges in 2025

11 articles · Updated · BBC.com · May 2
  • Chief executive Emma Clare said 114 Doulas joined the UK body last year, with London and Devon case studies highlighting growing demand for non-medical end-of-life support.
  • Doulas help families understand dying, discuss funerals and practical arrangements, and provide bereavement support, charging about £25-£45 an hour or sometimes working free.
  • Researchers say longer deaths from life-limiting illness are changing end-of-life care, but the unregulated role raises questions over training, costs and whether doulas should sit inside the health system.
What does the rise of paid 'death companions' reveal about our society's lost art of dying?
As AI predicts death and doulas offer companionship, is technology or human touch the future of end-of-life care?