Soon after your baby is born you'll be asked if you would like your baby to have a post-mortem examination. Unfortunately, in many cases the post-mortem of a stillborn baby does not show a clear cause of death, so even after a post-mortem you may not know why your baby died.

Is it a crime to bury a stillborn baby?

Even if the child was stillborn, he said, "burying a corpse and a baby in the backyard" could be "a crime in itself." The case is classified by Riverside police as an “abuse of corpse” investigation, the severity of which ranges from misdemeanor to felony.

How long does it take to do an autopsy on a stillborn?

How long does an autopsy take? A perinatal autopsy usually takes about 3 to 4 working days, letting the remains be quickly returned to the delivering hospital. The Fetal Pathology service does most autopsies Monday through Friday.