NEW HAMPSHIRE FUNERAL RESOURCES & EDUCATION
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Perform Body Care

Body Care Made Easy

Moving the Body
Families may bring a body home after a death in a hospital or other institution, including from the Medical Examiner’s office, even before the death certificate has been signed. It is wise to check hospital or care facility body release policies well in advance if possible to ensure a smooth transition. Once the certificate has been signed, it functions as the Burial/Transit permit, which is required for transfer to the place of final disposition. (See How to Transport the Dead.)​

On This Page

  • Moving a Dead Body
  • Bathing, Dressing, Casketing, Cooling
  • Autopsy and Organ/Tissue Donation​
Bathing, Dressing, and Casketing
Your loved one's body may be washed in bed or on a table with clear water, or with lavender or other essential oils added, or by using a cleaning product the person or family is used to using. Modesty can be preserved by covering your loved one with a sheet. Participants may choose to practice universal precautions if there is any concern. After the washing, dressing can be accomplished by cutting garments up the back and tucking them in underneath. Whether your loved one remains on a bed or table and later transferred to a casket, or is placed there after bathing, it may take four or five people to help move them.

Cooling
A body may be kept at home until the family is ready to cremate or bury.  There is no time limit in New Hampshire law for a body to lie in honor; one to three days is common. Refrigeration is not necessary: a body will keep for that period without odors or significant changes in a 55 to 65 degree room if it has been properly cleaned and prepared under normal circumstances. Reduce the room’s temperature by opening the windows or with air conditioning if possible. Placing and periodically replacing dry ice or Techni-ice under and over the body will help cool the body. (Learn more about dry ice and Techni Ice™ in Cooling Techniques. Find dry ice in NH at http://www.newenglanddryice.com)
 
Other than in rare, special circumstances, embalming is not required by law.  For decades, it was utilized as a means of preserving deceased individuals between the time of death and disposition, but is not necessary with paper cooling. (See this explanation of NH's unique embalming regulation.)

Autopsy and Organ Donation
Neither autopsy nor organ donation are automatic disqualifications for bringing a body home for vigil. Many autopsied and harvested bodies have still been appropriate for a home vigil. Medical Examiners and other medical personnel, when informed prior to the procedure, will do their best to assist the family in repairing affected sites and incisions to make a body fit for viewing. Ask for a clear, detailed description of what procedures are being done and for advice on body care once the body is released. Knowing what you are about to experience will guide your decisions about what and how much to do, and how you will manage.

​Resources for Conducting Home Body Care

PictureComplete body care instructions included
Undertaken With Love: A Home Funeral Guide for Congregations and Families by Holly Stevens and Donna Belk is included in the newly republished After-Death Care Educator Handbook available through Amazon.
​
One Washcloth Project
One Washcloth facilitates healing by supporting individuals, communities, and institutions to engage family members in the care of a loved one directly after death through the simple gift of a washcloth.

For more information leading to other How To pages, go to:

Complete Paperwork
Arrange Disposition
​Transport the Dead
Create Ceremony
Go Out Greener


Resources and Other Links

FCA How to Arrange a Home Funeral
FCA Organ and Body Donation
FCA Embalming Explained
​Techni Ice™
​
Cooling Techniques
The After-Death Care Educator Handbook

How To

Learn About the Law
Have a Home Funeral
Complete Paperwork
Perform Body Care
Arrange Disposition
​Transport the Dead
Create Ceremony
​Go Out Greener
​
Pay for a Funeral
​
Work With Professionals

Resources

Articles, White Papers, Books
In the News
​Community Advocacy
​Find Locally Made Products
Find a Green Burial Cemetery
​Find It Fast

Presentations

Find a Speaker for In-Services, Presentations, Events

Learn More

About Green Burial
Home Funeral Stories
Funeral Price Survey
​Pandemic Care
​For Professionals
​Glossary
FAQs

Contact

Lee Webster
PO Box 456
Holderness NH 03245
nhfrea@gmail.com
​603.236.9495
Picture
New Hampshire Funeral Resources, Education & Advocacy    Designed and content provided by Lee Webster
​
All rights reserved  © FuneralPartnership.org
  • Home
  • How To
    • Find Help Fast
    • Learn the Law
    • Have a Home Funeral >
      • State Requirements for Home Funerals
      • New England Legal Requirements
    • Perform Body Care >
      • Cooling Techniques
    • Complete Paperwork
    • Arrange Disposition
    • Transport the Dead
    • Create Ceremony
    • Go Out Greener
    • Pay for a Funeral
    • Work with Professionals
  • Resources
    • Connecticut Resources
    • 2020 Funeral Home Price Survey
    • Memorial Forests
    • Shop Local
    • Tools for Community Education
    • Infographics
    • Sample Forms
    • Side Effects Publishing Website Design
    • Writings, Books, and Forms
    • Stories >
      • Read Their Stories
      • Heidi's Story
      • Penney's Story
      • Kathleen's Story
    • Articles, Interviews, Podcasts, Videos
    • For Professionals
    • Glossary
    • Pandemic Care Guide >
      • Pandemic Care Guide
      • Practical Guidelines
      • Ceremony Resources
      • Articles
      • Covid-19 FAQs
    • FAQs
  • Green Burial
    • Green Burial in NH
    • Green Burial Cemeteries in the US and Canada
    • Start Up Tips for Green Burial Cemeteries
    • 10 Things You Can Say or Do to Promote Natural Burial
    • Offering Green Burial in Your Hybrid Cemetery
    • Natural Burial Bylaw Language
    • Legal Burial Requirements by State
    • New Hampshire Embalming Law
    • Green Burial Survey
    • Photographs
    • Green Burial Books
  • Presentations
    • Find a Speaker
    • Presentation Resources >
      • NHCA
  • Contact