If both the mother and the newborn die, are they buried together or separately?

Question

A woman died at childbirth, and at the same time the child also passed away. Can this woman and the child be buried in one grave or not? If they can, is it so in every case, whether the child is male or female, or is there a difference? And if they cannot, then why? Further, if the child was born, will it be buried with the mother or not? And what is the ruling on including the dead child in its mother’s janaza?

Answer

If the child was born alive and then died, and its mother also died, then it is valid to offer the funeral prayer (salat al-janaza) for both together, but the two should be buried separately: the child is not to be buried in the mother’s grave. If the child was born dead, the funeral prayer is not offered for it, and it too is to be buried separately, not with the mother.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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