Deathcare Services

Venessa is available in person on Whidbey Island, WA as well as in the surrounding areas on a case by case basis. Most services are also available virtually.

If you are wondering if I can come in person to where you are, get in touch.

All services are billed hourly at a rate of 95/hr for daytime hours, from 9a-9p.

We will all face at least one dying time, be it our own death or the death of someone we hold in our heart.

It’s OK if you find yourself here, needing services, but don’t know what exactly you need from me.

My practice serves all humans who are facing death, with a focus on serving communities that are historically overlooked for care. LGBTQIA+, families the dominant culture has deemed “Non-Traditional,” and families affected by estrangement are some of those communities. These labels and more apply to my own family, and I will strive to be a safe harbor for your family too, no matter what form it takes. All Family is Family, and death is a sacred time for each and every member.

Whether you have sought me out because you have received a terminal diagnosis, are a part of the care team for someone who has received one, or are finding yourself in the throes of a sudden death due to an accident or a trauma, I am here for you.

Some of the ways that I can support you as a death midwife include:

  • Helping understand and navigate hospice care, either in a family home or a hospice facility

  • What to expect as the body dies, and how you can support a loved one experiencing those changes

  • Education about MAID and VSED, and how to approach your medical team about these options

  • Planning for end-of-life, filling out Advance Directives

  • Assisting to make funeral choices, home funeral guidance, or support finding a right fit funeral home

  • Help organizing information and workload as you navigate caregiving while caring for yourself

  • Bridging the gap between expectations and what might actually be happening to you or your loved one

  • Vigil and bedside companionship

  • Support making difficult and urgent end-of-life medical choices for a loved one who can’t choose for themselves

  • Coming into a space where a person has died unexpectedly, for support as you wonder “what now?”

  • Support planning a funeral when you are unsure of what that person might have wanted

  • Help making the unexpected feel real, safe, and sacred

  • Creating space for the challenging and necessary healing work of celebration within grief

  • Support for those seeking closure in difficult or complicated family relationships

  • Support for those seeking spiritual clarity and joy in a difficult process

  • Grief Support — from anticipatory to extended post-death

Most of these services can be adapted to a virtual model. If the dying time you are facing has need of supports not listed here, please let me know so that we can find something that suits your needs. Every person deserves to be fully supported in a death that feels good and whole, whether that death is their own or the death of a loved one.

A note about payment: For longer distance travel and overnight vigil there may be additional fees, which we can discuss along with a billing plan when we make a visitation schedule. My hourly rate currently reflects active apprenticeship and is subject to change.

No person will be left without care because of an inability to shoulder the cost—facing death is hard enough without an additional burden. Through history, care work has been work supported by reciprocity: midwives cared for their community and were in turn cared for in many ways, not necessarily with cash payment. In full awareness of the capitalist system we live under, and in recognition of the fact that our medical system takes enough out of our pockets as it is, please let me know if you need services but anticipate financial hardship.