A retired end of life doctor has revealed what really happens when you die.
Dr Kathryn Mannix, from Northumberland, specialises in palliative and end of life care and describes the transition to death as a "process" mirroring birth.
She has used her 30 years in the profession to inspire her to write books With the End in Mind and Listen, and believes when the time comes it is "probably not as bad as you're expecting".
Dr Mannix is keen to break down the taboo around the subject and encourage people to talk about dying more.
She said the whole journey is made much easier for the person who is coming to the end of their life and their family if everything is more upfront - including language chosen.
Speaking to a short film for BBC Ideas she said: “In my humble opinion, dying is probably not as bad as you’re expecting.
“We’ve lost the rich wisdom of normal human dying and it’s time for us to talk about dying and reclaim the wisdom.
“Dying, like giving birth, really is just a process. Gradually people become more tired, more weary.
"As time goes by people sleep more and they’re awake less.”
She has seen in her own patients how they can slip in and out consciousness as they get closer to the end and will often wake up and say they've had a "good sleep".
Dr Mannix said it's clear then that it generally "doesn't feel frightening" in such scenarios and is often quite relaxing for the patient.
What is described as the "death rattle" she said is actually a sign someone is "deeply relaxed" and "so deeply unconscious they are not feeling that tickle of saliva as their air bubbles in and out".
"At the very end of somebody’s life there will be a period of shallow breathing and then one out breath that just isn’t followed by another in breath," she said.
"Sometimes it’s so gentle that families don’t even notice that it’s happened."
She went on to say: "Normal human dying is just a really gentle process, something we can recognise, something we can prepare for, something we can manage.
"And this should be something we can celebrate.
"This is something we should be able to console each other with.
"But because it’s become impolite to talk about dying it’s the really best kept secret in medicine."
