A post-mortem is an examination of a body after death, also known as an autopsy. The aim of a post-mortem is to determine the cause of death, and they are usually carried out by pathologists who specialize in histopathology. There are different types of post-mortems, including:
-
Hospital post-mortems: These are sometimes requested by hospital doctors to provide more information about an illness or the cause of death, or to further medical research. Sometimes the partner or relative of the deceased person will request a hospital post-mortem to find out more about the cause of death. Hospital post-mortems can only be carried out with consent.
-
Coroners post-mortems: These are requested by coroners to find out how someone died and decide whether an inquest is needed. An inquest is a legal investigation into the circumstances surrounding a persons death.
-
Forensic post-mortems: These are carried out by forensic pathologists when the death is thought to have occurred as a result of criminal activity. Forensic pathologists investigate deaths where there are medico-legal implications, for example, suspected murder, death in custody, and other complex medico-legal cases.
Apart from the medical context, a post-mortem can also refer to a process usually conducted at the conclusion of a project to determine which parts of the project were successful or unsuccessful. Project post-mortems are intended to inform process improvements, mitigate future risks, and promote iterative best practices.
