H.B. No. 37, also known as Everly's Law, aims to enhance perinatal bereavement care in Texas hospitals by establishing a framework for supportive services following instances of intrauterine fetal demise, neonatal death, or stillbirth. The bill introduces Chapter 328 to the Health and Safety Code, which mandates hospitals with a maternal level of care designation to 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 the quality and accessibility of these services, including training for hospital personnel and the provision of necessary resources.

Additionally, the bill establishes a hospital recognition program to acknowledge hospitals that effectively implement perinatal bereavement care training. 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 will prioritize hospitals that lack access to bereavement devices, treat high-risk maternal patients, and deliver a significant number of babies. The law is set to take effect on September 1, 2025, and allows for the acceptance of gifts and grants to support the initiative.

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