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Funeral Directors

The burial of infants and children is often a small segment of the average funeral directors experience.  Therefore, the special needs of those families may not be given enough emphasis in mortuary schools.  This document seeks to detail perinatal, SIDS and other infant deaths with the goal of examining their special needs and making recommendations for necessary services.  Please take special consideration of the possibility that young families dealing with the loss of a child may have limited experience with death or may have never made funeral arrangements. 

Funeral Directors have an important opportunity to influence the direction of recovery for parents and other family members by making the process special for those involved.  With our mobile society, you may deal with a family who, at least initially, may have no support from their nuclear family, and may come to you even more lost, apprehensive and traumatized.  You, the funeral director, must be alert and sensitive to the situation so you can assist the family in the most appropriate and beneficial manner.

Guidelines for Funeral Directors (PDF)