How the Bereavement Ready readiness assessment works with the Stillbirth Clinical Care Standard and the PSANZ guideline for Care Around Stillbirth and Neonatal Death.
Australian maternity services work to two national references for perinatal loss: the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care's Stillbirth Clinical Care Standard (2022), and the Care Around Stillbirth and Neonatal Death (CASaND) guideline from the Stillbirth Centre of Research Excellence and PSANZ, approved by the NHMRC in December 2023.
Both describe what families should receive. What varies is whether a unit has the structures to deliver it every time: named ownership, current policy, documented training, staff support, and a review cycle that leadership sees. That is what this assessment measures.
It is free, takes about fifteen minutes, and produces a Readiness Snapshot your team can bring to a clinical governance or quality meeting.
Recommendations from the Stillbirth Clinical Care Standard (quality statements 7 to 9) and the CASaND guideline, summarised in our own words, with the questions that measure them. AU numbers are the Australian questions.
| Recommendation | Assessment questions | Match | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Investigations, including autopsy, placental examination, and genetic testing, are discussed with parents by a senior clinician, with consent.Stillbirth Clinical Care Standard, statement 7 | AU-1 | Australia question |
| 2 | Investigation results are reported, documented, and communicated to parents.Stillbirth Clinical Care Standard, statement 8 | 6.1, 6.3 + AU-2 | Australia question |
| 3 | Compassionate, respectful, culturally safe bereavement care, with a private place to be.Stillbirth Clinical Care Standard, statement 9 | 4.3, 5.2 | Full |
| 4 | Time with baby and the chance to create mementos.Statement 9; CASaND | 4.2, 5.1 | Full |
| 5 | Information on physical recovery, including lactation, and on mental health support.Statement 9; CASaND | 6.3, 6.4 | Full |
| 6 | A follow-up review meeting within 12 weeks of the baby's death.Stillbirth Clinical Care Standard, statement 9 | AU-2 | Australia question |
| 7 | Respectful communication and shared decision-making with parents.CASaND | 4.1, 4.4 | Full |
| 8 | Care that responds to the cultural needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, including Sorry Business.CASaND | 4.3 + AU-3 | Australia question |
| 9 | Care in subsequent pregnancies.CASaND | 6.5 | Full |
| 10 | Perinatal mortality audit and classification.CASaND | 8.2 | Partial |
| 11 | Education for staff in bereavement care.CASaND | 3.1 to 3.4 | Full |
| 12 | Perinatal palliative care.CASaND. The 29 questions do not cover palliative care for the baby. A palliative care version is under consideration. | None | Not covered |
The assessment also measures what the guidance assumes but a busy unit can lose: documented leadership support (1.1), a named lead or committee (1.2), a current policy with a scheduled annual review (2.1 to 2.4), and support for staff after a loss (7.1 to 7.3).
The Australian version is mapped to the Stillbirth Clinical Care Standard published by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, and the CASaND guideline (2024 edition) from the Stillbirth Centre of Research Excellence and the Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand.
Naming these organisations shows where the content comes from. None of them has reviewed or endorsed Bereavement Ready.
Choosing Australia adds three short questions at the end. Your answers appear in a separate Australia panel on your results, so an Australian result can still be compared directly with any other unit.
Choosing Australia changes how the questions read, not what they measure. Every scored question keeps its number and its meaning.
| Who is listed in the roles question | Midwifery, nursing, medical, social work, pastoral care, support staff |
| Sites of care | Emergency department, birth suite, neonatal unit |
| Shift change | Handover |
| Staff support | Employee assistance program |
| Spelling | Australian English |
| US cost figures | Not shown. There is no verified Australian equivalent. |
The published benchmark currently comes from participating units in the United States. Australian results are shown beside it and clearly labelled, and an Australian benchmark will be published once enough units have taken part that no single unit could be recognised.
Bereavement Ready is independent. It is not part of the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, the Stillbirth CRE, or PSANZ, and is not endorsed by them. The standards belong to the bodies that publish them. Bereavement Ready measures readiness against them.
Responses are anonymous. No hospital name is collected, and location is recorded at state or territory level only. See Privacy and Data Use.