Louisiana Law Needs to change

I recieved a letter back telling me that there was no death certificate with the name Julianna Rowell

        ​Please do me a favor and pray for this request....
     I need help to change hospital policies and financial relief for families who experience a stillbirth. I would like to see a smoother process and less stress for future families. I don't want any more families to suffer more than they already are going to suffer. Let me tell you my "birth" certificate story with Julianna Grace.
     Soon after leaving the hospital in September of 2013, we received Julianna's ashes with a stapled copy of her death certificate to her bag. Well, she came in a box in a white gift bag. Yes, after months of pregnancy than delivery i had gift bag and a box to show for it. I know that sounds so morbid but that’s how that is. I've moved on from that sight. Fast forward a couple of years after i had Gabriella, in 2017 I realized after going to my safety deposit box that I didn't have Julianna's birth certificate. I thought well if I have a death certificate why don't I have a birth certificate. That doesn't make sense. Many memories came to me and I began to recollect the Fall of 2013. The ones that pop out the most are rolling out of the hospital without a baby while clinching onto a pink bear, going back to work to face my coworkers and customers, explaining to people why I wasn't pregnant anymore, getting on the phone to pay hospital bills then having to stop a congratulations because I didn't bring a baby home and that's why I'm asking for a discount off my hospital bill if I paid in cash, crying after every call, people asking me I was pregnant, people hiding from me because they were pregnant, people ignoring me or that fact that I carried a human for 5 months etc. Looking back all of it was painful. But where's her birth certificate? I couldn't remember getting one.

     In 2017, I decided that I needed her birth certificate. To spare you the anguish and long details I spent many months back and forth with the funeral home, the hospital, the Bossier Health Unit, the office of public health, and after many emails and phone calls later I finally got in contact with a wonderful woman who had a heart for families of stillborn babies. She knew what to do but still had a hard time getting my certificate. So, after many more months of waiting, emails, phone calls and praying, I finally relieved a missing Angel certificate. Because Julianna was stillborn I would receive a stillbirth certificate, a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth. Ahhh!!!

     If you’re reading this and have never experienced a stillbirth you might not understand the importance of a birth certificate. This means so much to a grieving mother. I bonded with Julianna the second I knew I was pregnant. My heart fell in love all over again. I was so happy. The love I have for her never goes away. She was there and then she was gone as if she never existed. Not having a birth certificate made me feel as if the world completely forgot about her.

       What did this do for me?

     Proof of life. Proof that I was pregnant for 23 weeks. Proof that I had labor pains. Proof for the blood, sweat and tears that was spilled on September 9, 2014. Proof that I gave birth and held an 11 1/2 inches long, 1 lb 5oz. brown hair baby girl perfect in every way.  Proof that her life is recognized by the state of Louisiana. I had a baby and that piece of paper healed a piece of my grief and heart. It gave me relief that if no one ever talked about her or acted like she never existed i had proof that she was here on earth. This certificate helped me mentally heal. I could breath and her life mattered.

     So why am i writing this? Because I want you to join me in prayer for me to contact the right Louisiana Senator or Representative that will hear me out and not toss me aside anymore. Things need to change so families can heal and not struggle the way I did. 

• To sum up the process and time it took for me to receive Julianna's paperwork, I had to reapply in July 2017 for her death certificate and had to apply for her Missing Angel Certificate in an odd manner. On the Application for Certified Birth/Death Certificate I had to write down a request for Missing Angel Certificate.  An employee with the Office of Public Health wrote to me in an email and I quote," Please notate somewhere on the application for me that you would also like a Missing Angel Certificate."  I don't think this was their fault as I'm unsure if there is proper way to request a Missing Angel Certificate. I feel there should be a section on the Application for Certified Birth/Death Certificate so you can request a Missing Angel Certificate. 
• My first request is to see the process for requesting the Missing Angel Certificate of a stillborn baby in the state of Louisiana easy. I believe this paperwork should be available in hospitals so that grieving parents would be able to apply for the Missing Angel Certificate of their stillborn child in the same manner that parents apply for the birth certificate of their live baby. This can be done at the hospitals during the time the parents are filling out paperwork. This simple procedure would confirm that life existed, give dignity to the stillborn baby, and help families heal.
• My second request is to have a one year tax credit bill for families who have stillborn children. This would preferably be a tax credit to relieve hospital bills. After we went home from the hospital, a week or so later we received medical bills. Again I spent countless hours on the phone requesting the hospital to give me a discount if I paid in cash. Over and over people answered the phone congratulating me on our new child. It was a painful time having to explain our situation and then asking for a discount. During that time it was painful to be stuck with a bill that we did pay in full. 

     This information I have listed above isn’t new. There are states that have these procedures as law and different tax credit, tax exemptions enacted. I just need the right person willing to listen and create these request into bills. 
        Thank you for your time friends. 

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