Useful Information
Legal Basics
PERSONAL STATUS ACT AND
NAME RIGHTS
​
Unfortunately, the deterrent terms such as stillbirth and miscarriage are used in the law.
A stillborn child over 500g gets a birth certificate (and a death certificate) and has been recognized as a 'person'. Since 2013, parents have also been able to enter stillborn children under 500g in the register if they wish, and the parents will receive a name certificate from the registry office.
​
The registry office in whose area of responsibility the miscarriage took place must be visited.
The registry office issues a certificate to the parents in which the misborn child/children are recorded with the intended first and last name, sex, date of birth and place of birth. The certificate issued by the registry office thus includes the essential data that the birth certificate would have contained. This certificate can also be issued retrospectively, even if the loss was years ago. A certificate from the doctor or midwife about a miscarriage or the maternity pass must be presented at the registry office. (Source: http://initiative-regenbogen.de/namensrecht.html from October 21, 2019)
​
Since the change in the law in 2018, not only the 500g limit applies, but also the achievement of the 24th week of pregnancy as a delimitation. Children who weigh less than 500 g but are still born in the 24th week of pregnancy are also recognized as individuals. It is therefore a stillbirth when the child has reached the end of the 24th week of pregnancy.
​
Children who are part of a multiple birth (e.g. twins) and died with at least one child alive are to be certified in the same way as the living children. The parents of these children receive an official birth and death certificate from the registry office for the family book.
FUNERAL ACT (NRW)
​
Burial law is the responsibility of the individual federal states.
There is no burial obligation for miscarriages in North Rhine-Westphalia. There is a burial obligation for stillbirths as well as children born alive from 500g. At the request of the parents, their own children from a miscarriage or stillbirth can be buried regardless of their weight (burial rights). This also applies to abortions. Furthermore, there is a legal obligation (e.g. by hospitals) to inform parents about their right to a burial. If the parents do not exercise their right to burial, stillbirths and miscarriages are to be collected and buried under dignified conditions. The institution bears the costs.
​
Once or twice a year, many hospitals offer the joint burial of miscarriages in a star child burial site, to which the parents and their relatives are also invited.
MATERNITY PROTECTION
​
The deterrent terms such as stillbirth and miscarriage are also used as a distinction in maternity leave.
Mothers who had a stillbirth (the child weighed more than 500 g or completed the 24th week of pregnancy) or whose child died immediately after birth are entitled to maternity leave.
​
A miscarriage is not considered a birth in the legal sense, so there is no maternity protection for women whose child died before the 24th week of pregnancy or whose child weighed less than 500g. There are therefore no protection periods for mothers who have a miscarriage or an abortion.
​
Since 2018 there has been a statutory protection against dismissal of 4 months for mothers whose miscarriage occurred after the 12th week of pregnancy. The law wants to take into account the situation and grief of the mothers.
​
If a miscarriage or an abortion is associated with mental and physical stress that results in an inability to work, this must be certified by a doctor. Instead of the regulations on continued payment of wages under maternity leave, the regulations on continued payment of wages in the event of illness or sick pay from statutory health insurance apply.
MIDWIFE AFTERCARE
​
Many pregnant women are often unaware that they are entitled to a midwife if they know about the pregnancy. Mothers with statutory health insurance who have had a miscarriage or a stillbirth also have the right to follow-up care by a midwife. Unfortunately, this right is hardly mentioned.
References
Fezer-Schadt, Kathrin and Erhardt-Seidel, Carolin: carry on.
Pathways to prenatal diagnosis
Salzburg 2018
Frömel-Scheumann, Miriam:
Shine bright - Little Star. The Star Child Memory Book
Butzbach 2017
Heine, Hannah
Marie and Vöhringer, Katharina:
leni and the mourning puddles
Cologne 2017
A very extensive media list sorted by
Links
For parents who want their child before, while or shortly after
lost at birth
Federal association of orphaned parents and grieving siblings in Germany
FEDERAL ASSOCIATION OF MOURNING COMPANION
Umbrella organization for bereavement support in Germany
Representation of interests and mouthpiece for mourners and those accompanying bereavement
and people in teaching and research on grief
Self-help group for Wesel and the surrounding area
Help and support for families and professionals
in case of miscarriage birth, termination of pregnancy
and neonatal death
Photographer Kai Gebel | The first and the last picture
grief counselor
The bereavement companion is free of charge for the participants of the "Star Children Duisburg" self-help group and can be sent by post during the Corona crisis, stating the address.
​
International Days of Remembrance
15. OKTOBER
t
PREGNANCY AND INFANT LOSS REMEMBRANCE
DAY
Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day
​
October 15 is an international day of remembrance for children who died during pregnancy, childbirth or shortly after childbirth.
​
2. SONNTAG IM
DEZEMBER
t
WORLDWIDE CANDLE LIGHTING
Worldwide Candle Lighting
​
On the 2nd Sunday of Advent, parents around the world who have lost a child place a lit candle in their window at 7 p.m.As the candles are extinguished in one time zone, they are lit in the next, so that a wave of light surrounds the entire world for 24 hours.
​
Every light in the window represents the knowledge that these children brightened life and that they will never be forgotten. The light also stands for the hope that the grief will not let the lives of the relatives remain dark forever. The light builds bridges from one affected person to another, from one family to another, from one house to another, from one city to another, from one country to another. It assures those affected of solidarity among themselves. It warms the cold life a little and will spread like the first ray of sunshine in the morning.
​
​
​
​