After an in-hospital miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant death, the parent(s) must make the decision regarding how they would like their child’s remains to be laid to rest.
In keeping with Michigan law, the options are:
-Hospital Disposition: Remains will be cremated and buried as a group at a graveyard of the hospital’s choosing at no cost to the family. There is often a service twice a year to commemorate these burials, and there is a grave marker at the burial site.
-Private Cremation: Remains are passed into the care of a funeral home of the family’s choosing and cremated. The family is responsible for all costs. Some funeral homes offer free or discounted infant cremations. The ashes are then picked up by the family once they are ready. The family must have a container (urn, special case/box provided by the family or the funeral home at a cost) to transport the ashes back home, and they will receive a certificate of ownership and identification of the ashes for legal purposes.
-Private Burial: Remains are passed into the care of the funeral home of the family’s choosing and prepared for burial. The family can then plan with the funeral planner to decide how they would choose their child’s funeral to proceed. The remains are buried in a casket at a grave site chosen and paid for by the family. Headstones are purchased by the family to have installed at the grave site.
Planning A Funeral or Memorial Service by Share: Pregnancy and Infant Loss
Private Cremation & Burial
Hospitals will share a list with patients of the funeral homes they have worked with in the past.
Financial Support is available through nonprofit organizations in Michigan listed on Amos’ Anchors here.
Amos' Anchors 