Five Things You Need to Know: Funeral and Burial Information
1. There are several burial options for families.
These include the use of an existing family plot or the purchase of a new plot. Some cemeteries, such as Pinelawn Cemetery on Long Island, have special sections for babies and a baby of any gestational age (even after a first trimester miscarriage) can be buried there.
2. Burial and cremation costs vary greatly.
Some funeral homes do not charge families who have experienced a perinatal loss, or the loss of a newborn. Others may offer a discounted fee, although fees vary widely. Cremations are done at a lower cost than a burial. Parents can decide whether or not to keep the ashes.
3. If you would like a funeral or cremation for your baby the first thing to do is to call a licensed funeral home.
The funeral home will help facilitate burial or cremation.
4. If you experience a loss in New York Citybefore 24 weeks gestation or on Long Island before 20 weeks gestation, and you want to pursue burial or cremation as a family, you must request the remains.
In the absence of a specific request most hospitals will take care of the remains for you, either with the hospital waste or in NYC by burial in a communal grave for infants at Potter’s Field.
5. There are several burial options for families.perinatal loss.
Bereaved mothers can request fetal death certificates from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene for a death that occurred within New York City. For deaths outside of New York City, mothers can request a fetal death certificate from the NYS Department of Health.