When death care belonged to communities, not industries.

Before funeral services became the norm for after death care, it was done in the home, with family and community.

In the beginning, funeral homes were once actual residential homes to the funeral directors, and after World War 1, purpose built ‘homes’ began to take over death care and become its own industry. 

And then it happened. Death became something we shied away from and were too afraid to talk about, and the knowledge of how to care for our dead that was once passed down in families got lost. 

It became such a mystery as the funeral industry began to boom, that now most of us don’t even know at home death care is an option. 

Death used to happen in the home, and once a person died at home, the community used to come together to mourn, to wash and dress their person, to provide practical support for the family, to participate in shared grief rituals and to hold a family arranged and led funeral. People even used to built their own coffins - which you can still do, by the way! 

It was not done by a stranger in a sterile, medicalised and removed way. It was done by those who knew and loved the person. Intimately, genuinely and full of love and respect. 

The movement of death and mortality doulas around the world are beginning to bring death care back into the home, and are assisting families with caring for their dead.