Hospice nurse Julie McFadden, with experience in both intensive care and hospice care, shares details about what the human body goes through post-death to help people face the experience with less fear.
Immediately following death, muscles , often loosen up, leading to the release of bodily fluids. The body then cools (a process called algor mortis), and blood pools due to gravity, creating darker areas on the skin.
After rigor mortis stiffens the muscles within a few hours, the body softens again as the tissues naturally begin to break down.
McFadden describes decomposition’s four stages: hypostasis, algor mortis, autolysis (where enzymes digest tissue soon after death), and putrefaction, which begins about four days later as gases and fluids release and skin discolours.
This decomposition process occurs as the body becomes oxygen-deprived. Although unfamiliar with most, McFadden emphasizes that decomposition is a natural progression.
She encourages individuals to have conversations about their end-of-life preferences to reduce fear and improve awareness of various options, from burial to cremation.
Source:
The Metro
