Brazilian Senate Advances Law to Support Families Facing Perinatal Loss with Psychological Care and Symbolic Recognition
The Brazilian Senate committee approved a bill to enhance psychological support and symbolic acknowledgment for families experiencing perinatal loss, introducing the purple butterfly emblem.
- • Senate Committee on Social Affairs approved PL 5.099/2023 expanding care for families with gestational losses.
- • Psychological support offered to bereaved families after hospital discharge, including home or facility visits.
- • Women have guaranteed access to exams investigating cause of fetal death and follow-up care for future pregnancies.
- • Purple butterfly emblem permitted as a symbol of perinatal mourning in hospitals, assisting non-verbal communication of loss.
Key details
On July 1, Brazil's Senate Committee on Social Affairs (CAS) approved a legislative project aimed at expanding healthcare and psychological support for families experiencing gestational, fetal, or neonatal losses. The bill, PL 5.099/2023, was proposed by Senator Damares Alves (Republicanos-DF) and amended by Senator Marcos Pontes (PL-SP). It seeks to amend the National Policy for the Humanization of Maternal and Parental Mourning to ensure bereaved families receive structured and compassionate care.
The legislation mandates psychological support be made available to mothers, fathers, and other family members after hospital discharge, either at home or in the nearest qualified health unit, upon request or when deemed necessary. Additionally, it guarantees that women who have suffered gestational losses have access to medical examinations investigating the cause of death and specialized follow-up for future pregnancies.
Significantly, the bill also allows hospitals to adopt the purple butterfly as a voluntary symbol of perinatal mourning, to be displayed on accommodations and medical records to respectfully signify such losses to caregivers, health workers, and visitors. This emblem facilitates non-verbal recognition and empathy for grieving families.
Senator Marcos Pontes emphasized the importance of the measure, stating, "The suffering from loss requires not only immediate psychological support but also structured interventions that facilitate mourning and promote the complete recovery of women and their families." This initiative marks a crucial step toward humanizing maternal and parental loss and embedding comprehensive care within Brazil's healthcare system.
This article was translated and synthesized from Brazilian sources, providing English-speaking readers with local perspectives.
