Kassie Merrill Olver

Perinatal Palliative Care, Perinatal Grief, Perinatal Mental Health, Prenatal Counseling, Perinatal Mental Health Integration

Kassie Merrill-Olver is a licensed independent clinical social worker with over 16 years of experience supporting families through some of the most meaningful moments of pregnancy, birth, and early parenthood. She serves as the Social Work Program Manager for the Fetal Care and Surgery Center and Psychosocial Director of Perinatal Palliative Care at Boston Children’s Hospital.
Kassie is deeply passionate about supporting families navigating complex and life-limiting fetal diagnoses, with a particular focus on perinatal grief, bereavement, and the emotional experiences of parents facing uncertainty, difficult decisions, and loss. Her work is grounded in the belief that every family’s experience deserves compassionate, individualized care and that meaningful connections between parents and their babies can be nurtured even in the briefest of lives.
She is currently pursuing her PhD in Social Work at Simmons University, where her research interests focus on reproductive decision-making, perinatal grief, and improving the experiences of families navigating life-limiting fetal diagnoses.