This information is sourced from Dr Kathryn Mannix, a senior palliative physician:
In the 4 minute video below, Dr Kathryn Mannix explains the process of normal human dying.
Dr Mannix highlights the importance of clearly describing the dying process to families and carers; from people becoming more weary, to sleeping more, and finally drifting in and out of consciousness until they are unconscious all the time.
She describes the shallow breathing that normally indicates that death is imminent (including increasing pauses in breathing known as Cheyne-Stokes pattern). She also describes how patients may feel so deeply relaxed that they don't even feel the trickles of saliva at the back of their throat (see Secretions at the end of life: Information for clinicians).