
What is NEDA?
While currently there is not a governing/regulating body over Death Doulas in the United States, there is an organization called NEDA, the National End-of-Life Doula Alliance, the ONLY NON-PROFIT professional membership group for death doulas. NEDA has a governing board made up of experts in end-of-life care and pioneers in the field of death doulaship.
NEDA not only offers a Doula Model of Care and Scope of Practice, which sets professional practice standards for Death Doulas, it also offers a microcredential, a test that a doula can take.
IF the doula passes the NEDA Proficiency Exam (meeting a minimum standard) it signifies that the doula has received training and comprehends a core set of death doula competencies, a scope of practice and code of ethics, and maintains a high standard of professionalism.
When a doula passes this microcredential, they can list their name, their profession as "Death Doula," followed by a comma and the term "NEDA Proficient".
For example: Carrie Forbes, MLS, Death Doula, NEDA Proficient.
All Death Doulas, no matter what training they have completed OR the term they use for their end-of-life care profession, can pay for yearly membership to be listed in the NEDA online directory, and can apply to take the NEDA Proficiency exam.
**INELDA (International End of Life Doula Association) is another Doula membership organization that also offers it's own Doula Model of Care, Doula Scope of Practice, and their own credentialing. INELDA is a for-profit international organization that also has it's own a training certification program and they ONLY allow death doulas who have taken an INELDA training to be listed on their site.