Angel's Law took effect August 1, 2026. It creates a statewide Perinatal Bereavement Care Initiative to bring bereavement resources to Louisiana hospitals with maternity care or a NICU, and the Department of Health reports on its progress to the Legislature every year starting February 1, 2027. The Readiness Package gives your facility a documented record of its bereavement program and a plan to strengthen it.
Act 346 of the 2026 Regular Session (SB 32) adds R.S. 40:1124.3. Here is what it sets in motion.
The Perinatal Bereavement Care Initiative sits within the Louisiana Department of Health's Office on Women's Health and Community Health. It coordinates with the Commission on Perinatal Care and Prevention of Infant Mortality and with nonprofit organizations.
The office provides perinatal bereavement resources to hospitals that offer maternity care or a neonatal intensive care unit. Priority criteria include hospitals that deliver a high number of babies or care for a high number of high-risk maternal patients.
The Department reports progress to the Senate and House health and welfare committees every year from February 1, 2027 through February 1, 2030.
Angel's Law places its duties on the Department of Health, not on individual hospitals, and it does not create a hospital certification. What it does create is attention: a statewide program, resources directed to hospitals, and a report to the Legislature every year. Facilities that can show a written education plan, training records, and a defined pathway for connecting families to support will be ready for that attention, and ready to put new resources to work.
The package follows the same Assess, Prioritize, Build, Verify model used nationally, scoped for Louisiana to staff bereavement training and connecting families to support after a loss.
Twenty-nine questions across eight domains. Your Readiness Snapshot appears on screen right away, with a score for every domain and the place to start.
Bereavement Ready reviews your results and delivers a recorded video readout. A follow-up call is available if your team wants one.
The documentation that shows your program exists on every shift, not only when the most experienced nurse is working.
Your facility retakes the assessment and keeps the before-and-after evidence. The evidence belongs to the hospital. Bereavement Ready does not issue a credential.
Each package is scoped to the facility. Pricing is shared on request.
Request the Readiness PackageThe assessment measures each of these directly. Most facilities already do much of this work; the gap is usually that it is not written down.
| Area | Framework domain | Evidence your facility can produce |
|---|---|---|
| Staff bereavement training | 03. Education and Training | An initial and ongoing education plan, trauma-informed communication training, orientation content for new staff, and documented completion |
| Connecting families to support | 06. Documentation and Continuity | Discharge and follow-up guidance, lactation-after-loss support, follow-up through anniversaries and subsequent pregnancies, and handoffs that mean families never retell their loss |
| Written policy | 02. Policies and Standards | A current policy covering pregnancy and infant loss across gestations, defined roles for each discipline, and an annual review |
| Program ownership | 01. Leadership and Infrastructure | Documented leadership support, a named champion or team, and escalation pathways that cover nights and weekends |
Organizations that offer bereavement education for hospital staff, from the Program Resources directory.
Domain 03 resources ↗National organizations for grief support, peer groups, counseling referral, and practical help, ready for a discharge packet.
Domain 06 resources ↗No assessment can do that, and none should claim to. Angel's Law places its duties on the Louisiana Department of Health and does not create a hospital certification. Bereavement Ready does not certify, designate, or accredit any facility. The Readiness Package gives your facility documented evidence of its bereavement program and a plan to strengthen it, and that evidence belongs to your facility.
About 15 minutes. No account is required, and your domain scores appear on screen as soon as you finish.
No. Bereavement Ready does not manufacture, sell, resell, or receive commission on any product, and has no financial interest in what a facility purchases. The work is program structure: policy, education, documentation, and workflow. Read the independence commitment.
The official résumé digest of Act 346 and the full text are on the Louisiana Legislature's website. This page is a summary and is not legal advice.