Accepting the loss of a child is extremely difficult, and despite the support of loved ones, grief can last a long time. However, there are some actions that you need to take shortly.
We hope that the following will give you an overview of the actions and important information you have to deal with in the event of a child’s death. In this article, you can find information on the following topics: naming a child and registering the death, organising a send-off, paying of various allowances, receiving help and other information.
The death of a newborn
The death of a newborn child is the death of a full-term or premature baby with at least one vital sign, including the death of a newborn within 70 days after birth. Unfortunately, out of all children born alive in Estonia in one year, 30-70 children die within seven days of birth.
Where can I find support if a child dies after birth?
Accepting the loss of a child is extremely difficult, and despite the support of loved ones, grief can last a long time. Do not be afraid to grieve or ask for help, and take as much time as you need. Pregnancy crisis counsellors are available at women’s counselling centres if you and your loved ones require help and support.
You may never be able to get over the loss of your child, but having a place for parents to commemorate their child can help them cope with the loss. The child can be buried with other relatives or in another desired place. If such a place is not available, there is, for example, a resting place for children born silently in the Harju-Risti churchyard of the Padise municipality, which offers the opportunity to bury your child’s ashes. This is a special place for families whose child was stillborn or died in infancy. Read more about the burial possibilities at the webpage of Children of Silence.
Registration of the death of a newborn
After the death of a newborn, several notifications and certificates of death are issued. This is necessary to register the child’s death.
- Issuance of a medical death certificate. After establishing the fact of the child’s death, the healthcare provider immediately issues a medical death notification. The notification is the basis for registering the death in the population register. The family does not register the death of the child, it is done automatically in the population register. However, the formalisation of the death notification requires that the family has previously registered the child’s birth, i.e. given the child a name.
- Issuance of notification of the cause of perinatal death. After the cause of death is determined, a notification of the cause of perinatal death, which is a document describing the cause of death, is drawn up for a child who died at up to 6 days old.
- Issuance of an official death certificate. This is a state document that issues the data of a deceased person in the population register.
Naming a dead child
If a child is born alive, the population register issues a personal identification code for each child, and therefore the child is registered in the population register. Therefore, naming the child is mandatory. If you have not yet given a name to your deceased child, please do so at the institution performing vital statistics procedures. Read more about naming the child here.
Autopsy of the child
All babies born after the 22nd week of pregnancy or who weighed at least 500 grams, and children who died before the first year of life, are subject to an autopsy. The hospital or maternity hospital organises the delivery to the post-mortem autopsy.
The results of the autopsy can help to understand what happened and alleviate some of the fears stemming from the unknown. Investigating the causes of death can be helpful in the future, giving parents answers to questions about how likely the incident is to happen again or whether the factor that caused the child’s death can be treated or eliminated in other similar cases. At the same time, it is not uncommon that the cause of death cannot be identified at the autopsy.
It may take 2-3 months for the autopsy results to arrive. The protocol of the pathoanatomical autopsy is issued to the doctor, the parents have the right to read it and receive copies of it. Ask for an appointment with your doctor, with whom you can read the autopsy report together and discuss its results.
The burial of the child and funeral allowance
If you want to bury your child at the cemetery or cremate your child, you can do so based on the child’s death certificate issued by the health care institution. To organise a burial or cremation, contact the manager of the funeral home and cemetery, and in the case of a church funeral, also the priest.
Funeral allowance for this occasion is not prescribed by the state, but you can still contact the local government to receive it. The size of the allowance and the terms of payment may vary in different municipalities.
Childbirth allowance, parental benefit and parental leave
If a child is born alive but dies within 70 days, the parents are entitled to receive a one-time childbirth allowance and a shared parental allowance for up to 30 days after the child’s birth, in addition to the father’s paternity allowance taken before the birth.
Childbirth allowance
If the child dies within 70 days, one of the parents has the right to receive a one-time birth allowance in the amount of 320 euros. The right to a childbirth allowance arises on the day the child is born. You can apply for the allowance at the self-service of the Social Insurance Board.
Parental benefit and parental leave
The purpose of parental benefits and parental leave after the death of a child is to allow both the mother and father to stay away from work, grieve and recover, and enable the family to better cope with the loss of a child.
If the mother is employed and is entitled to the temporary incapacity for work benefit
If a child is born alive but dies within 70 calendar days after birth, the working mother is entitled to maternity leave and maternity benefits for 100 consecutive calendar days. During this period, the mother is entitled to health insurance coverage.
At this point, there may also be situations where a mother who was on maternity leave and started to use the right to receive the maternity benefit 70 calendar days before the birth of the child, but the child died at 70 days old, has already used 100 calendar days of maternity leave and benefits. However, even in a situation where a child dies within 70 calendar days after birth, it is important to ensure the mother an additional 30 calendar days of maternity leave and compensation to cope with the loss of the child. 30 days can be considered a period in which the parent can take time away from work and somewhat recover from the emotionally difficult situation. Also, for the duration of the period in which the mother continues to have the right to be on maternity leave during this period, she is guaranteed alternative income in the form of a maternity benefit.
The period of payment of the maternity benefit is reduced if the mother begins to use the right to receive the mother’s parental benefit more than 30 calendar days, but less than 70 calendar days before the estimated date of birth of the child; unused days are included in the shared parental benefit period.
If the deceased child was born less than three years apart from the previous child, when planning a new pregnancy, the amount of the parental benefit received with the first child is preserved, if it is more favourable for the recipient of the benefit.
When the mother is not employed
A mother who is not employed has the right to receive maternity benefits for 30 consecutive calendar days from the day following the child’s death. This means that the parental benefit cannot be taken by separate days over a longer period, but all 30 days must be used consecutively. During this period, the mother is covered by health insurance. The right to a maternity benefit after the death of a child also ensures that non-working mothers can better cope with the loss of a child.
Parental benefit for the father
The father has the right to receive paternity leave and paternity benefits for 30 consecutive calendar days after the death of a child, regardless of whether the father has used the paternity leave and the right to receive the paternity benefit before the child’s estimated birth date or before the child’s death. The paternity benefit cannot be taken by separate days over a longer period, all 30 days must be used consecutively. In the case of fathers, their employment status is irrelevant in the calculation and payment of parental benefits.
More about death of a loved one.