Plan for Death As Though It’s a Birth

Sheila Kitzinger was a “champion of women’s rights in childbirth.” She spent her career pioneering birth plans that secured choice and autonomous control for women giving birth.

And in her death, in April, Kitzinger was no less influential. As her daughters document here, Kitzinger has provided a model of how to plan for the death you want—and get it.

She recorded clear directives and appointed one of her daughters to have “lasting power of attorney for health and welfare.” Kitzinger also wrote an advance decision, which became an invaluable document as her own ability to communicate diminished as she died.

If you’re wondering how talking and planning for death helps secure as peaceful an end-of-life as possible—and also ensures those around us will be provided with a period of letting go and a greater ability to grieve—read on.

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