State Bereavement Laws

What You need to Know About Perinatal Bereavement In Your State

Is There a Bereavement Bill Impacting Your Hospital?

A number of bills have been proposed at the state level intending to provide better bereavement care to families in need. Check back on this page for updates to legislation affecting your hospital's patient care in the maternity unit or NICU.


The Caring Cradle® helps hospitals meet the intent and requirements of upcoming and recently passed state laws with a U.S.-based solution that is designed specifically for dignified perinatal bereavement with ease-of-use in mind for the hospital staff.

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Current & Upcoming Bereavement Legislation


Check back frequently for updates to legislation affecting maternity unit and NICU patient care.



Who Can Bring Perinatal Bereavement Reform to Your State?

Changing the standard of care for families experiencing stillbirth, neonatal death, and intrauterine fetal demise in your state begins with a single advocate who is willing to speak up—YOU!


From finding the right state representative to building community support and sharing your story with lawmakers, there are practical steps you can take to help bring meaningful perinatal bereavement legislation to your state. The progress we've seen in states like Texas and Louisiana shows that advocates can help turn a need into legislation that improves the standards fo care for grieving families in their time of need.

How to Pass Perinatal Bereavement Laws in Your State

1. Prepare your elevator pitch.

Write down a brief explanation about the need for and importance of bereavement care. For this purpose, aim for 30–60 seconds, or roughly 75–125 words.


An elevator pitch consists of 3 parts.

  1. The problem.
  2. Why it matters.
  3. The solution.


More on How to Write a Policy Elevator Pitch.

2. Contact your local state representatives.

Start small and focus on representatives closest to you. Email and call asking for five minutes of their time.


Be persistent. Send several emails. You just need one person to take interest. Have people in your community help with this outreach.


We've prepared a full list of links to help you find your local representatives.

3. Assemble your team.

Once you have a representative willing to sponsor your bill, they’ll help build it. It will be important to look at other state bills to help with yours. It’s also important to have a medical professional in the field that works with cooling devices and gives family bereavement care. In addition, it is also important to have someone that has personal experience with this bereavement care and cooling device.

4. Gain community support via social media.

Before your bill is presented to the floor, it’s important to go to social media. You want community outreach to let your community know about your bill, that it will be presented, and you need their help. The goal is to have the community reach out to the other members of the committee. You want them to push the agenda by calling, emailing, and writing. The goal is to have the whole committee know all about who you are and what this bill is about. Leave no stone unturned. 

5. Rehearse & present your STORY.

Story is important. Once you have an audience, speak from your heart. Don't just talk about the facts. Let the committee see the passion and compassion you have and why this is so important.


In Louisiana’s experience, it was so touching that the whole room was in tears. They had to call a recess because the whole room was so emotional. It opened the eyes of medical professionals, thinking they knew everything and realizing they had no idea the existence or the need for a cooling device let alone the importance of it.


Caring Cradle® exists to give families time when time matters most, while also helping hospitals provide compliant, compassionate care under existing or future state legislation.


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Find Your Local Representative: Sorted by State

Sample Scripts for Voicemail & Email Outreach

Click Here to Download Full Scripts as PDF



  • Voicemail script to ask for bill:

    Hello, my name is [Your Name], and I am a constituent from [Your city]. I am calling to request a few minutes of your time. Our state desperately needs a bill like the ones Texas and Louisiana put in place. 


    Bereavement bills like these are very important to families who have experienced the loss of their child through stillbirth, neonatal death and intrauterine fetal demise. It ensures these families have a cooling device like a Caring Cradle, along with trained staff that can provide quality bereavement care. Saying goodbye should not be rushed, families should be given quality time to spend with their babies. 


    [Optional personal note]


    [Briefly explain why a bill would be important to you and/or your family]


    I respectfully ask for you to help support a bill like Everly’s Law and Angel’s Law. So, families in [your state] can receive the same dignity, compassionate and quality bereavement care. Thank you for your time and your service to [your state].


  • Voicemail script to ask for support of bill:

    Hello, my name is [your name], and I am a constituent from [your city]. I am calling to express my strong support for [bill], represented by [representative] which was passed [where it was passed, when and how many yays and nays and cosponsors].

     

    This bill is very important to families who have experienced the loss of their child through stillbirth, neonatal death and intrauterine fetal demise. It ensures these families have a cooling device like a Caring Cradle, along with trained staff that can provide quality bereavement care. Saying goodbye should not be rushed, families should be given quality time to spend with their babies.


    [Optional personal note]


    [Briefly explain why a bill would be important to you and/or your family]


    I respectfully ask for your support on [bill] and vote yes on [bill name] so families in [your state] can receive the same dignity, compassionate and quality bereavement care. Thank you for your time and your service to [your state].


  • Email script asking for bill:

    Subject line: We need Perinatal Bereavement Care in [your state]


    [Representative name],


    I hope this message finds you well and I thank you for your service to [your state]. I am writing to express the need for a perinatal bereavement care bill, like the ones Texas and Louisiana have. Bereavement bills like these are very important to families who have experienced the loss of their child through stillbirth, neonatal death and intrauterine fetal demise.


    When these losses occur, time with a baby becomes incredibly precious. Yet many hospitals lack perinatal bereavement care, leaving nurses no choice but to separate mother and child. This leaves grieving parents rushed to make decisions and sometimes unable to have privacy and dignity to hold their babies, create memories or say goodbye. A bill will ensure these families have a cooling device like a Caring Cradle, along with trained staff that can provide quality bereavement care. Saying goodbye should not be rushed, families should be given quality time to spend with their babies during this devastating time. 


    [Optional personal note]


    [Briefly explain why a bill would be important to you and/or your family]


    Texas and Louisiana both recently passed similar legislation with overwhelming bipartisan support, ensuring hospitals provide cooling devices and bereavement training. I would love for [your state] to join these others and be one of the top states to set the standard for perinatal bereavement care. I respectfully ask you to help our state so families can receive the same compassion, dignity, and care. 


    Thank you for your time, leadership, and consideration.


    Sincerely,

    [Your name]

    [Your phone number or email]

  • Email script for asking support for bill:

    Subject line: Support for [bill] - Perinatal Bereavement Care in [your state]


    [Representative name],


    I hope this message finds you well and I thank you for your service to [your state]. I am writing to express my strong support for [bill], represented by [representative], which passed [where it was passed, when and how many yays and nays and cosponsors]. This bill is deeply meaningful to me and to many families across our state who have experienced the heartbreak of stillbirth. 


    When these losses occur, time with a baby becomes incredibly precious. Yet many hospitals lack perinatal bereavement care, leaving nurses no choice but to separate mother and child. This leaves grieving parents rushed to make decisions and sometimes unable to have privacy and dignity to hold their babies, create memories or say goodbye. A bill will ensure these families have a cooling device like a Caring Cradle, along with trained staff that can provide quality bereavement care. Saying goodbye should not be rushed, families should be given quality time to spend with their babies during this devastating time. 


    [Optional personal note]


    [Briefly explain why a bill would be important to you and/or your family]


    Texas and Louisiana both recently passed similar legislation with overwhelming bipartisan support, ensuring hospitals provide cooling devices and bereavement training. I would love for [your state] to join these others and be one of the top states to set the standard for perinatal bereavement care. I respectfully ask you to consider supporting this bill and voting yes on [bill] so [your state] families can receive the same compassion, dignity, and care. 


    Thank you for your time, leadership, and consideration.


    Sincerely,

    [Your name]

    [Your phone number or email]


Learn more about the Caring Cradle


If your hospital is preparing to implement state legislation or expand perinatal bereavement care services, Caring Cradle® would love to connect with you.


Contact us to learn more about product availability, or to keep us updated on your efforts to implement legislation.

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The most dignified, comfortable means to spend time with a baby following infant loss


The Caring Cradle is designed to assist the nurse, requiring no supervision, monitoring, or maintenance. It does not have any tubes, wires, or fluids to monitor or replace. It does not require replacement parts.


Once the unit is plugged in, it may be left to run continuously, for days, with no intervention. The Caring Cradle frees nurses from remaining bedside with a distraught mother because now the mother has what she wants at that moment, more private, uninterrupted time with her baby.

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The Caring Cradle allows families to spend extra time with their baby and more time for memory making. The design of the Caring Cradle makes it easy to keep baby close to the parents. This has been a game changer in providing care to families through an unimaginable loss.

Tricia R.

Program Coordinator of Perinatal Bereavement & Postpartum Emotional Support in Kansas