HB1250: HB1250 Daniel Waters Act; enact

Right now Georgia law does not specifically require hospitals to offer structured bereavement support after a baby dies before or shortly after birth. This bill would add a new section to Georgia's public health code creating a perinatal bereavement care initiative run by the Department of Public Health. Hospitals that receive funding through the initiative would have to offer grieving parents and family members counseling resources and, if available, a perinatal bereavement device, a machine that can slow tissue deterioration for up to 72 hours so families have more time with the infant. The Department of Public Health would provide participating hospitals with training, devices, and other support, prioritizing hospitals that lack a bereavement device, handle more high-risk pregnancies, or have relatively high birth volumes. The department could also accept outside gifts and grants for the program. Importantly, the entire law only takes effect if the General Assembly specifically appropriates money for it in a budget bill, and it would be automatically repealed if no funding is provided by July 1, 2029.

• Creates a new perinatal bereavement care initiative inside the Department of Public Health to fund hospital bereavement services.
• Requires hospitals that receive initiative funding to offer grieving families counseling resources and any available bereavement device after a fetal death, neonatal death, or stillbirth.
• Directs the department to provide funded hospitals with staff training, bereavement devices, and device maintenance support.
• Instructs the department to prioritize funding for hospitals lacking a bereavement device, treating more high-risk pregnancies, or handling relatively high birth volumes.
• Allows the department to accept gifts, grants, or donations to pay for the initiative and creates a recognition program for hospitals that provide this care.
• Makes the entire Act contingent on the legislature appropriating specific funding, and repeals the Act automatically if no funds are appropriated by July 1, 2029.

Hospitals licensed to provide basic perinatal services or children's hospital care, hospital staff who work in maternal and neonatal units, the Department of Public Health, and parents and family members who experience a fetal death, neonatal death, or stillbirth.

For families who lose a baby before, during, or shortly after birth, this bill could mean access to grief counseling and a device that preserves the infant's body for up to 72 hours, giving them more time to say goodbye, but only at hospitals that receive state funding, and only if lawmakers actually set aside money for the program.

• Section 1 names the bill the 'Daniel Waters Act.'
• Section 2 adds new Code Section 31-2A-21, defining terms including 'perinatal bereavement device,' 'fetal death,' 'neonatal death,' and 'stillbirth.'
• Subsection (b) requires funded hospitals to provide bereavement counseling resources and any available bereavement device for a period matching the recommended stay for a birth.
• Subsection (c) directs the Department of Public Health to run the initiative, provide training and devices to hospitals upon appropriation, and prioritize hospitals lacking devices, treating high-risk pregnancies, or with high birth volumes.
• Subsection (d) requires the department, working with the Georgia Perinatal Quality Collaborative, to create a recognition program for hospitals offering this care.
• Section 3 makes the Act effective only if the General Assembly appropriates funds for it, and repeals the Act if no funds are appropriated by July 1, 2029.

1. 2026-02-25House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
2. 2026-02-11House Second Readers (House)
3. 2026-02-10House First Readers (House)
4. 2026-02-09House Hopper (House)

• Scott Hilton (R, HD-048)Primary sponsor
• Lee Hawkins (R, HD-027)
• Darlene Taylor (R, HD-173)
• Katie Dempsey (R, HD-013)
• Jesse Petrea (R, HD-166)
• Sharon Cooper (R, HD-045)

• hospital care
• stillbirth and infant loss
• maternal health
• public health funding