For your baby

There is no hurry. Nothing has to be decided today.

Call 1300 788 881 Any hour, any day. A midwife or a friend can call for you.

Morning light falling across soft linen in a quiet room

The person who answers is the person who stays

Candour is owned by the four of us who run it. Whoever picks up your call will be the one who cares for your baby, and the one still with you at the end of it.

Sameiko Slota, co-founder and funeral arranger at Candour — **Sameiko Slota**Co-founder and Funeral Arranger

Take as long as you need.
Some families want a few hours. Some want a week. Nothing in Victorian law forces this to happen quickly, and we will not put a date in front of you.
You can hold your baby again.
At the hospital, and again with us. More than once, if you want to. Brothers and sisters can meet them too.
We do the paperwork, all of it.
The registrations, the certificates, the bookings. You will not have to learn how any of it works.

You will see every cost before you decide

A farewell for a baby costs a fraction of what an adult's does. We will put a clear, itemised estimate in front of you before anything is agreed, and you can change your mind about any of it.

Nothing is added on afterwards. Cemetery and crematorium fees are set by them, not by us, and passed on to you at cost — and babies are charged far less than adults.

There are no wrong decisions here

We keep four, each one made for a baby. Look at them when you're ready, or leave it to us and we'll talk you through them when the time comes.

Look at the coffinsClose

Infant Coffin

Painted timber, silver handles. White, blue or pink.

$880

Wicker Casket

Hand-woven natural fibre. Fully biodegradable.

$990

Natural Legacy

Felted wool, stitched by hand, with a place for their name.

$1,100

Infant Casket

Lined in soft satin, gently padded. White, blue or pink.

$2,752

Some hospitals provide a small coffin at no cost. Use it if you would like to — we will not charge you for one of ours.

Everything else, when you want it

Or don't. You can ask us any of this on the phone instead.

Do we have to have a funeral?

At 20 weeks or more, Victorian law requires a burial or cremation — but not a ceremony. It can be entirely private, with nobody there but you. Before 20 weeks there is no requirement either way, and we will still arrange a farewell if you want one.

Can our baby be buried?

Yes. Burial and cremation are both open to you, and the wicker casket is suited to a natural burial if that is what you would like. Most of Melbourne's cemeteries have areas set aside for babies.

If you choose cremation, it happens here in Victoria, close to home — never driven interstate. You are welcome to be there, and equally welcome not to be.

Will there be ashes?

If you choose cremation: with a very small baby there may be little or none, because a baby's bones are soft. We will tell you honestly what to expect before you decide, rather than let you find out afterwards.

What about the registrations and certificates?

Leave it with us. Which forms apply depends on your baby, and it is not something you should have to work out.

If your baby was stillborn, the hospital has already notified the Registry. If your baby took a breath, however briefly, both the birth and the death are registered — and we lodge that for you.

Tell us what happened and we will take care of the rest, including the certificates when they come through. You can order a birth certificate in their memory, and a commemorative one, which is not marked stillborn.

We lost our baby before 20 weeks.

Victoria issues a free certificate recognising an early pregnancy loss, with no time limit — you can ask for it years from now. And we will arrange a farewell at any gestation, if that is what you want.

A garden in soft focus behind a woven casket and white dahlias

Two numbers that have nothing to do with us

We arrange the farewell. These people are better than us at the rest of it, and both are free.

Red Nose Grief and Loss

Answered at any hour, by people who do only this — miscarriage, stillbirth, and the death of a baby or child. Confidential, and you do not need a Medicare card.

1300 308 307

Heartfelt

Volunteer photographers who will come to the hospital or your home and photograph your baby, at no charge. Ask early if you can — it is often not too late, but sooner is better.

1800 583 768

Call when you are ready. Not before.

1300 788 881 You do not need questions ready, or anything decided.

You can also email us. For an older child, or to see every coffin we offer, our full range is here.

$1,200

$37

$3,000

$23

$20

$64

$53

$10,467

$13,417

$11,662

$14,612

$10,862

$11,412

$629

$1,171

$629

$1,171

$3,278

$2,192

$1,848

$15,547

$20,797

$16,877

$22,127

$15,677

$16,227

$26,000

$300

$880

$770

$240

$120

$1,065

$1,145

$70

$750

$1,750

$550

$1,150

$950

$5,827

$16,250

$35,000

$7,892

$9,842

$8,977

$10,927

$8,227

$8,777

$4,845

$4,765

$5,474

$6,016