H.B. No. 37, also known as Everly's Law, aims to enhance perinatal bereavement care in Texas hospitals by establishing a framework for support services following intrauterine fetal demise, neonatal death, or stillbirth. The bill introduces Chapter 328 to the Health and Safety Code, which mandates that hospitals with a maternal level of care designation provide perinatal bereavement care counseling and access to perinatal bereavement devices for affected families. The Department of State Health Services is tasked with creating a perinatal bereavement care initiative to improve access and quality of care, including training for hospital personnel and resources for bereavement care.

Additionally, the bill establishes a hospital recognition program to acknowledge hospitals that provide adequate training in perinatal bereavement care. The executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission, in collaboration with the Perinatal Advisory Council, will develop criteria for this recognition. The initiative and recognition program are designed to prioritize hospitals that serve high-risk maternal patients and those that deliver a significant number of babies. The law is set to take effect on September 1, 2025.

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