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Sacred ConnectionsDEATH MIDWIFERY

• A death midwife supports a person through the dying process. The dying process is believed to extend to the final disposition of the body…

• A death midwife guides individuals toward a conscious dying experience; supports loved ones in after-death care of the body

• Empowers families to create personal and meaningful funerals at home…

DEATH MIDWIFE

Mission of a Death Midwife• Empower families to exercise the right to care for their own

deceased

• Death midwives do not define after death care

• It is believed that families and friends experience a meaningful transition in caring for their deceased

• Mid Wives are GUIDES…

Spirituality and Conscious Dying• Emotional and spiritual support• Increase beauty, contentment, and meaning• Demystify the stages of dying• Engage in conversation about death• Honor another’s belief’s and humanity• Bedside Attendance…….-no one dies alone

Conscious DyingIs choosing to experience the dying process as an opportunity to be fully present, to create a loving and healing experience, to realize a spiritual awakening and to die with grace…

Home Funerals and Death Midwives• Home funerals are a family response to death and after

death care• Most state laws support family care for their own departed• Families play an empowering role in:• Planning and carrying out after death rituals• Preparing the body for burial or cremation• Transporting the individual to place of disposition• Facilitating final burial: digging of grave in natural burial….

Some of the Services of a Midwife• Assessment of family needs• Preplanning with hospice care and social workers• End of life guidance and support• Location of cemetery or crematorium• Provision of all supplies for after death care of body• Creating sacred space to lay body in honor• Delivery and creation of casket for burial or cremation

Midwife services cont….• Assistance with creating altars and personally

sacred rituals• Guidance in bathing, dressing, and anointing of

the body• Daily visits to over see dry ice preservation

Why a Home Funeral?For a few days following a death…there is a window of opportunity to experience the deepest meaning of life….As we stand in the presence of the body of a loved one, boundaries dissolve, personal differences diminish, and we are often open to profound healing…

A VigilA home funeral and vigil provides the opportunity to keep this scared space open, allowing timeto care for the body; accept the death, mourn,celebrate and gently integrate the loss into our daily lives…

Did you know?• In almost every state, it is legal for a family member to act as

the funeral director when a loved one dies…

• Refrigeration is not necessary, embalming is not required by law…

• A family member can complete all of the necessary end-of-life documentation…

• The body of your loved one can lie in honor in the home until burial or cremation…

• You can create, decorate, and transport a casket to the disposition of your choice…

A Way to Go…

Moving On

A Personal Story…

All Inclusive!

www.sacredcrossings.com1-310-968-2763

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TRAINING

Rev. Olivia Bareham