Episode 136 – A Good Death: A Conversation with Death Doula/Midwife Michelle Mondia (Social Distance Series)

This Filipino American Life

2020 will go down in history as one of the most difficult years for so many of us. At the time of writing, 443,000 people have lost their lives to covid-19. Deaths in 2020 that were not Covid-19 related were still impacted by the virus. In certain situations, they were unable to get care that could save their lives because emergency rooms were turning away ambulances. Family members of non-Covid-19 patients in the hospital must get extremely special permission to visit dying loved ones or in many cases family do not get the opportunity to say goodbye at all. Moreover, the Filipino American community has been disproportionately affected by the pandemic with such high rates of death.

In such a time of massive death, we focus our episode on how we can find some light amidst the darkness. In this episode, the TFAL crew along with guest host and featured player Kat Carrido Bonds, have a conversation with Michelle Mondia, a certified death doula/midwife. Michelle shares about her experience and what it means to be a death doula/midwife. Additionally, the crew talks about their experience with losing loved ones and the concept of what is “a good death.”

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What practices around death do you follow? How have you handled loss? Let us know by leaving a voicemail at (805) 394-TFAL or email us at [e-mail].