The Caring Death Doula

Frances
  • 5.0 (2)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE

In a world that rushes past death and ignores grief, The Caring Death Doula stops to listen with tenderness, truth, and time.  Whether you are grieving right now or here to learn how to help those grieving, join your host, Frances, a certified grief educator on the journey of finding connection, conversations, and comfort. Let's make grief and death a natural part of our conversations.

  1. 6D AGO

    Grieving More Than a Death

    This episode comes from the thick  envelope from a lawyer that lands in my mailbox and flips my whole day upside down. Inside is news I never expected to learn this way: my aunt has died, and I don’t even know when it happened.  Shock hits first, then my mind does what it has learned to do for a lifetime it reaches for connection. I want to call my dad. Then I remember I can’t, because he died too. That split second says so much about how grief lives in the body, not just in our thoughts. I talk honestly about layered bereavement, the kind that shows up when a family member dies and it reopens old family pain. There’s the death itself, and then there’s the silence- why wasn’t I called?- and then there’s ache of realizing you were not included.  When family estrangement, messy dynamics, or a controlling religious group has shaped who stays in touch, grief can carry bitterness and resentment right alongside love. If you’ve ever felt confused by your own reaction to a relative’s death, there is nothing wrong with you. You are not broken. You are human. We also discuss what I do in the moment to steady myself: getting out of the house, taking a long walk, and trying to calm my nervous system when anger starts to surge.  As The Caring Death Doula, I’m not here to polish grief into something pretty. I’m here to tell the truth and to hold space for yours too. If this resonates, subscribe, share the episode with someone who needs gentle support, and leave a review so more grieving people can find this podcast.   Click here to send me a text. I would love to hear from you your thoughts on this episode. Sign up for my newsletter, ask questions, and get responses via Email: thecaringdeathdoula@gmail.com Follow on FB The Caring Death Doula https://www.facebook.com/share/1CUfH9Kek6/?mibextid=wwXIfr IG The_Caring_Death_Doula https://www.instagram.com/the_caring_death_doula?igsh=MXdjOTF3MWo2a3RpYw%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

    13 min

  2. APR 30

    Normalizing Death Helps Children

    In today’s episode we talk again about children and grief. We discuss how important it is for children to see death as a natural part of life. They need to be part of conversations and hear adults talking.  If talking about death around children makes your chest tighten, you’re not alone and that discomfort is exactly why the conversation matters.  We dig into how children learn what grief “means” by watching the adults around them, and how silence can quietly teach them that death is scary, or off-limits. When children don’t feel safe asking questions, they often carry unresolved grief into adulthood, expecting time and adulthood  to fix what never got named.  We explore what it looks like to normalize death as a natural part of life, not a topic reserved for whispers in the hallway. That includes being honest about how hard grief is, letting children be included as much as they feel able to, and recognizing how moments like missing a funeral or a hospital visit can become lifelong pain points. The goal isn’t to force big conversations on demand, but to make your home and your relationships a place where death can be mentioned without everyone shutting down.  You’ll also hear practical community-based ideas that make these talks easier: informal Death Cafe style meetups and Death and Cheesecake gatherings where people can listen, share fears, and speak plainly with no agenda. We highlight children’s grief centers too, including how they may process loss through peer conversation, arts and crafts, reenactment play, or movement when words don’t come.  If you want better tools for supporting grieving children, it starts with growing your own comfort and modeling that it’s safe to feel.  Subscribe for more conversations like this, share this with someone raising kids, and leave a review with one thing you wish adults had said to you about death. I’d love to hear from you! Click here to send me a text. I would love to hear from you your thoughts on this episode. Sign up for my newsletter, ask questions, and get responses via Email: thecaringdeathdoula@gmail.com Follow on FB The Caring Death Doula https://www.facebook.com/share/1CUfH9Kek6/?mibextid=wwXIfr IG The_Caring_Death_Doula https://www.instagram.com/the_caring_death_doula?igsh=MXdjOTF3MWo2a3RpYw%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

    9 min

  3. APR 27

    Children And Grief

    I’m sitting in a park in my hometown, gently swinging while we talk about something most families stumble through: children and grief. When a divorce hits, a loved one dies, a pet dies, or life changes in the way it can, children are often the easiest to miss not because we don’t love them, but because the adults are barely functioning. If you’ve ever felt guilty for not having the energy to deal with or check in with your children, you are not alone. We discuss how so many of us were never taught how to talk about death and grief, and how that silence gets passed down. We also unpack a few common choices that seem protective but can create confusion, like keeping kids away from funerals or using soft phrases such as “Grandpa went to sleep.” For some children that lands fine, but for others it can spark real fear, including anxiety around going to sleep.  This really reinforces the need for us as adults to get comfortable talking about death, loss, change, and grief. It hits us all and our children need a safe place. They need us to be comfortable talking amongst ourselves and to them. They need to see us accepting it as a natural part of life so they can.  You’ll also hear a practical way to help that doesn’t require a plan: show up and listen. If you know a family walking through loss, your calm presence can give children a safe place to speak, even if all you do is let them talk with you nearby.  If this resonates, subscribe for more honest conversations about grief support, share this with someone caring for children,  and leave a review so more families can find it when they need it most. Click here to send me a text. I would love to hear from you your thoughts on this episode. Sign up for my newsletter, ask questions, and get responses via Email: thecaringdeathdoula@gmail.com Follow on FB The Caring Death Doula https://www.facebook.com/share/1CUfH9Kek6/?mibextid=wwXIfr IG The_Caring_Death_Doula https://www.instagram.com/the_caring_death_doula?igsh=MXdjOTF3MWo2a3RpYw%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

    6 min

  4. APR 13

    When Grief Hits I’m Here

    In this episode, I talk honestly about the days when I’m grieving in more than one way, when words are nonexistent, and when grief whispers, “stay in bed”.  If you’re coping with loss right now, I want you to feel seen and supported.  A simple moment, like sorting a pile in a room and finding a photo of my dad, can open the floodgates. I reflect on how complicated relationships still carry love, how it hurts to accept you won’t see someone again on this earth, and how grief includes the future that won’t happen, like time with grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Mourning doesn’t require a perfect story to be real. It just requires honesty. We also get practical about grief support. I share why holding space matters, why presence can be more comforting than anything else we can do, and how grief comes in waves with sudden triggers from words, memories, and everyday reminders.  As  the Caring Death Doula, I believe no one should have to walk the grief path completely alone, even though part of it is deeply personal. If this resonates, listen through and share it with someone who needs it, then subscribe and leave a review so more grieving people can find this kind of support. And when you need to, when you are ready, reach out to me. I am here for you. I am holding space for grief- yours and mine.  Click here to send me a text. I would love to hear from you your thoughts on this episode. Sign up for my newsletter, ask questions, and get responses via Email: thecaringdeathdoula@gmail.com Follow on FB The Caring Death Doula https://www.facebook.com/share/1CUfH9Kek6/?mibextid=wwXIfr IG The_Caring_Death_Doula https://www.instagram.com/the_caring_death_doula?igsh=MXdjOTF3MWo2a3RpYw%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

    9 min

  5. APR 6

    Grief For Those You Did Not Know

    Some grief doesn’t get “approved” by the people around you. It shows up when someone says you didn’t know them, didn’t have them long enough, or shouldn’t still be thinking about it.  I share a personal, tender look at that kind of invisible grief, starting with my father-in-law who died just eight months into my marriage, and the ache of knowing my children never got to meet the grandpa who should have been part of their lives. From there, I move into an even quieter kind of mourning: grieving a sibling lost to stillbirth, and the complicated thoughts that can follow you for years. We talk about survivor guilt and the haunting question of why one life continues while another ends. This is an honest conversation about pregnancy loss, stillbirth, miscarriage, and the way our culture often avoids naming these deaths as worthy of grief.  I also challenge the idea that grief can be ranked, like it “hurts less” if someone already has children or “counts less” if you never held the baby.  Every death carries meaning, attachment, and love.  If you’ve ever felt dismissed while grieving, I offer a moment of silence, witnessing, and holding space, and the reminder that your feelings make sense. You are supported. You are seen.  If this episode resonated, subscribe, share the episode with someone who needs it, and leave a review so more people looking for grief support can find this podcast.  If it feels safe to, would you share with me?  What kind of grief has felt hardest to explain in your life? Click here to send me a text. I would love to hear from you your thoughts on this episode. Sign up for my newsletter, ask questions, and get responses via Email: thecaringdeathdoula@gmail.com Follow on FB The Caring Death Doula https://www.facebook.com/share/1CUfH9Kek6/?mibextid=wwXIfr IG The_Caring_Death_Doula https://www.instagram.com/the_caring_death_doula?igsh=MXdjOTF3MWo2a3RpYw%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

    13 min

  6. MAR 30

    Grief Mind, The Call You Can’t Make

    Your hand reaches for the phone before your brain catches up. For a split second, it feels perfectly natural to call your dad, your mom, your person and then reality hits, and the grief rushes in. I share a moment that happened to me this morning: that honest, almost comforting impulse to ask my dad a question, followed by the ache of remembering he’s not here to answer.  If you’ve had that experience, I want you to hear this clearly: you’re not broken. You don’t need to be fixed. That reflex doesn’t mean you’ve taken steps backward in your healing or that you’re “doing grief wrong.” It can be a sign of how real the bond still is, and how much you still want to share your life. It’s the reality of your love. Love that just needs to be carried differently.  We also talk about how the grieving process actually moves, not like a neat checklist, but more like water. Sometimes grief hits like a wave. Sometimes you drift, then get caught on a rock, then move again. As The Caring Death Doula,  I offer grief support you can use in the moment: sit with what comes up, breathe, cry if you need to, and don’t compare your loss to anyone else’s. Your relationship was unique, so your grieving will be, too. If this helped, subscribe, share it with someone who’s grieving a loved one, and leave a review so more people can find it.  With care, Frances I would love to hear: What’s the moment that catches you off guard most lately? Click here to send me a text. I would love to hear from you your thoughts on this episode. Sign up for my newsletter, ask questions, and get responses via Email: thecaringdeathdoula@gmail.com Follow on FB The Caring Death Doula https://www.facebook.com/share/1CUfH9Kek6/?mibextid=wwXIfr IG The_Caring_Death_Doula https://www.instagram.com/the_caring_death_doula?igsh=MXdjOTF3MWo2a3RpYw%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

    9 min

  7. MAR 23

    What If Silence Is The Real Mistake

    In this episode, we talk about why so many of us hesitate to reach out after someone grieves the death of a loved one and how that silence can grow when weeks turn into months.  Frances makes the case that it is not too late, that your words carry real weight, and that a simple check-in can help someone feel less alone in grief.  • normalising conversations about death, grief, loss and change  • why reaching out can feel uncomfortable and what sits underneath that fear  • how missed funerals and delayed messages create hesitation  • why late support still matters, especially on birthdays and anniversaries  • the practical power of simple words that share the burden  If this resonated with you, please share this podcast with someone who may also need gentle encouragement to support someone who is grieving.  Together we can lighten the load even if for a minute. Let’s extend grace to each other.  The Caring Death Doula Click here to send me a text. I would love to hear from you your thoughts on this episode. Sign up for my newsletter, ask questions, and get responses via Email: thecaringdeathdoula@gmail.com Follow on FB The Caring Death Doula https://www.facebook.com/share/1CUfH9Kek6/?mibextid=wwXIfr IG The_Caring_Death_Doula https://www.instagram.com/the_caring_death_doula?igsh=MXdjOTF3MWo2a3RpYw%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

    8 min

  8. MAR 19

    When Grief On The Page Feels Too Real

    In this episode, I discuss how a book  can be something we look forward to until it suddenly feels like a mirror. I sit down ready to gather grief resources and instead I’m stopped cold by a story that’s too close to home. With my brother-in-law’s death still fresh, the rawness on the page makes me close the cover and cry. And, I have to admit what so many of us think but rarely say out loud: I want support, not a wave that pulls me under. Next I share how I trya second book, hoping for inspiration and motivation, and I run into the same wall.  That becomes the turning point, not because reading is bad, but because grief is honest. We can learn from stories and still set boundaries with them. We can look for inspiration & help after loss without forcing ourselves to absorb more pain than we can carry today. And we can release the guilt and shame that tell us tears are something to hide. From there, I share my own written reflections about the changes and reality of our life. It isn’t a perfectly controlled schedule or environment . It’s life. Messy. Real. Not perfect. Not planned.  As the ground  of our life path shifts, we have the confidence that we will keep our existence, our balence amongst life’s reality.  That we will get up and keep going. It’s resting, working, crying, and laughing again. Letting joy and sorrow coexist in the same memory.  I close with a gentle, practical grounding exercise: breathe, notice the sounds around you, see the colors in front of you, and remember you are not alone. If you needed a quiet place to land today, press play.  Subscribe, share with someone who’s grieving, and leave a review so more people can find this kind of grief support.  And if feels okay to do so, leave me a message on what helps you breathe when life or grief feels unbearable? With care,  Frances, The Caring Death Doula Click here to send me a text. I would love to hear from you your thoughts on this episode. Sign up for my newsletter, ask questions, and get responses via Email: thecaringdeathdoula@gmail.com Follow on FB The Caring Death Doula https://www.facebook.com/share/1CUfH9Kek6/?mibextid=wwXIfr IG The_Caring_Death_Doula https://www.instagram.com/the_caring_death_doula?igsh=MXdjOTF3MWo2a3RpYw%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

    10 min
See All (61)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

In a world that rushes past death and ignores grief, The Caring Death Doula stops to listen with tenderness, truth, and time.  Whether you are grieving right now or here to learn how to help those grieving, join your host, Frances, a certified grief educator on the journey of finding connection, conversations, and comfort. Let's make grief and death a natural part of our conversations.

Information

  • Creator
    Frances
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    61
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Caring Death Doula
  • Show Website
    The Caring Death Doula