BackyardBurial.com

Care

A home funeral is organic, informal, and personal.

Facts
• Home funerals pose no health risks under normal circumstances.
• Home funerals offer a more humane and healing alternative to the usual American custom of giving a mortician full charge of the body to embalm then display prior to cremation or burial.
• Individuals have the legal right to care for their own at death. They can file the death certificate and file obituaries with the local newspapers.
• The most important benefits of Home Funeral to the bereaved are psychological. The healing and acceptance of death is easier for the family when they are able to touch, see and spend time with their lost loved one.
(Read more on home funerals.)

Acting as the Funeral Director
Most states allow families to conduct the after-death care on their own. In Connecticut, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska and New York, laws require that a funeral director handle the body at some point in the process. In the 44 other states and the District of Columbia, loved ones can care for the body themselves.

Some states, with the backing of the funeral industry, are now considering placing restrictions on home funerals. Oregon state legislators recently passed a bill that would require death midwives to be licensed, something no state currently does.

Tips for Care of the Body
• Gently wash the body with warm water and lavender oil. Aromatic oils help to moisten the skin and produce a soothing air for those in the room.
• To keep the mouth closed, a scarf or bandana can be tied around the head under the jaw to close the mouth until rigor mortis sets it closed.
• Place dry ice under the body to keep it cooled.

Assistance from a Death Doula (or Death Midwife)
For those who wish to perform an at-home funeral, but want a little help from an expert, families can turn to a death doula for assistance. This has led to a new profession for assistants now referred to as death doulas or death midwives. The costs for a death doula can range from $200 to $3,000 depending on travel distance. However, there are many volunteer death doulas that have been trained by a hospice organization. Death doulas can also help educate the family about the needs of after death care.