In Britain, funerary practices begin with the lay or official declaration of death, and consist of small attentions to the body itself, such as closing the eyes and covering the face. The 'laying-out' of the body—or 'rendering the last offices' was in the past a job traditionally done by women, often the local midwife.
在英国，丧葬仪式首先会正式宣布死亡，对尸体进行轻微处理，如闭眼和遮面。“陈殓”尸体——或进行“最后安葬祈祷”，在过去按照传统是由女人，通常是当地的产婆来完成。
It involved undressing and washing the body, plugging its orifices , if necessary placing coins (traditionally pennies) on the eyelids , and a bandage under the chin, to hold these parts closed, dressing the body in its grave clothes, and holding limbs straight (with bandages or ribbons around the body at the elbows, wrists, and ankles, and sometimes a thread around the big toes) ready for placing in the coffin.
这包括脱衣清洗尸体，堵塞鼻口（如有必要眼睑放置硬币（传统便士），颌部裹以绷带，以确保这些部位闭合），给尸体穿寿衣，使四肢保持平直（在尸体的肘、腕和脚踝处裹以绷带或丝带，在大脚趾缠以细线），为陈尸棺木做好准备。
Today the female tradition is continued to some extent inasmuch as most hospital, hospice, and district nurses who do the job are women. However, in cases of death at home undertakers are now generally swiftly called to remove the body, and the process of laying-out is done by available staff—male or female—away from the location of death or mourning.
今天，这一传统在某种程度上仍得到了传承，因为大多数医院、收容所和巡回服务护士的工作都是由女人进行的。但是，如果死者是寿终正寝，死者家属被要求立即将尸体运离死亡地或哀悼场所，可使用的人员，无论男女，都可以马上陈殓尸体。
