Soul Midwifery is a gentle, non-medical and holistic approach to caring for people at the end of life. Through compassionate presence and emotional, spiritual and practical support, Soul Midwives help people experience greater comfort, dignity and peace as they approach death.
Founded by Felicity Warner and shaped by more than twenty-five years of experience, Soul Midwifery is widely praised for the exceptional love, kindness and depth of care it brings to dying people and those close to them.
Today, Soul Midwifery is a flourishing global community of practitioners working in homes, hospices, hospitals and care homes. Recognised for excellence in holistic and spiritual end-of-life care, its principles and gentle practices are also embraced by clinicians, therapists, end-of-life doulas and other care professionals—helping them deepen their understanding and bring an even greater quality of presence, kindness and connection to those they support.
Soul Midwives are skilled therapists, advocates and advisors who offer gentle therapies to soothe, comfort and reassure. Their pastoral support is non-denominational, creating a safe space for deep conversation while honouring each person’s individual beliefs and wishes.
Their work can begin at diagnosis and continue through to the final days of life. With encouragement and loving support, they help each person live as fully as possible until the end.
Soul Midwives—both women and men—regard every dying person as the most important person in the world, caring for them with the tenderness they would offer a cherished family member.
Through this deeply personal work, Soul Midwives are helping to transform our experience of living and dying, enabling more people to approach the end of life with dignity, peace and love.
Every person’s beliefs, wishes, culture and unique experience are respected.
We listen, accompany and remain alongside the dying person.
Tender practices help to soothe, comfort and support.
Comfort, connection and a sense of peace are nurtured throughout the dying process.
Soul Midwives can offer their support within a person’s home, hospital, hospice or care home—wherever gentle companionship is most needed.
My journey began when I was just fourteen, with the death of my beloved grandmother. She had brought me up from the age of six and, as her lung cancer progressed, I gradually became one of her carers.
On the night she died, I visited her in a cold, stark hospital room, harshly lit and smelling of disinfectant. I wanted so much to take her home, stroke her hair, play her favourite music and have the cat curled up at the end of her bed. I made a promise in my heart that one day I would help people to die more gently—knowing they were loved and surrounded by warmth, tenderness and peace.
Three years later, my stepfather died suddenly at only thirty-six. These early experiences stayed deeply within me and left me wondering: surely there must be a kinder and more compassionate way to care for people at the end of life?
I went on to become a health journalist specialising in palliative care. I listened to the stories of many dying people and learnt so much about their loneliness, fears and hopes. Later, while volunteering in a hospice, I offered simple hand massage, music and relaxation. I watched fear begin to soften and saw people open their hearts when someone was simply willing to sit beside them and listen.
I came to understand that dying people need more than physical care. They need loving companionship, deep listening and someone who is not afraid to walk beside them through the emotional and spiritual journey of dying.
And so, Soul Midwifery was born.
For more than twenty-five years, it has been my greatest privilege to support dying people and their families. It fills my heart to see Soul Midwives now bringing this beautiful work into homes, hospices, hospitals and care homes—helping people everywhere approach the end of life with comfort, dignity and love.
Felicity is a passionate campaigner for raising standards of care at the end of life.
From volunteering in local hospices and working one-to-one with dying people in the last days of life, she developed the Gentle Dying method, now called TLC—or Tender Loving Care—which offers comfort when medicine has reached its limits.
It can be learned and used by anyone, in any setting, to help make death a peaceful and dignified experience.
Her work has taken the message of gentler dying into communities and institutions across the world—including a visit to No. 10 Downing Street in London.
Discover Soul Midwifery courses and training created to deepen confidence, compassion and practical skill in caring for people at the end of life.