Am I getting a fair price from an end of life doula?

It's very important to look at the services that you need and the level of training or experience that the death doula has received. If, for example, someone comes to me for advance planning help and they also have questions about their estate, they can expect that I'm qualified to answer those questions because of my legal background and as a result, they will probably pay me more than they would someone who is holding bedside vigil only. 

Different doulas do different things, so make sure you pick someone who has a breadth of knowledge and services best suited for your needs.

It's such a new field and there's so much diversity in the kind of service people offer, that makes it hard to put it into a particular commercial box. At one level, if you feel satisfied and served by what you're getting, and what you're paying feels like a match for that, then that's a fair price. But there's another question around how much does this cost and what can I expect to pay?

When I mentor doulas and we talk about pricing I tell them to look around in their area and see what kind of services they're offering. Some people are offering a lot of hands on bedside care, vigiling, energetic support, so that might look a bit like a massage therapist pricing. 

I'm doing a little more around spiritual guidance and counseling. So my prices are more around what a therapist might charge. When I work with larger groups, it's a little bit like a family therapist. Other people are more about logistical planning, advanced care planning, death care planning, funeral planning, then they would price in that kind of category. 

It ultimately depends on the kind of services you want and need from the doula.