Registering a birth

Every birth that occurs within the boundary of the City of Plymouth is registered at The Register Office, Lockyer Street, Plymouth. If you live some distance from the Register Office and it is more convenient to attend your local Register Office you may give a declaration of the birth there and it will be forwarded to Plymouth for registration.

The registration of a birth must, by law, take place within 42 days of the date of birth. A typical registration takes about 20 minutes. There is no fee to register or re-register a birth.

An appointment system operates for Birth and Death Registrations, Giving Notice, Marriage Ceremonies and Civil Partnership Registrations. Call 01752 268331 to make an appointment.

Who can register a baby's birth?

If the mother and father were married to each other at the time of the child's birth either parent may register.

If the mother and father were not married to each other at the time of the child's birth both parents have to be present at the registration in order to have both of their names recorded in the register. If the mother attends on her own only her details and the child's details will be recorded.

There are certain exceptions to these two rules that can be explained in detail to you by contacting the Register Office.

What is needed to register?

You do not have to produce any documents but it is wise to know the following information before you attend at the Register Office:

• the baby's date and place of birth
• baby's forename(s) and surname
• mother's full name, and if applicable any other names that she may have been known by, date and place of birth, current or last occupation
• if the father's details are to be included in the register then the same information will be asked of him
• the month and year of the marriage if the birth parents were married to each other at the time of baby's birth

Re-registering a birth

It is possible in certain circumstances to re-register a birth at a later date to show the natural birth father if he was not recorded on the original entry, or to re-register to show the new married details if the natural birth parents have subsequently married each other. In both cases please contact the Register Office for further information.

Birth certificates

Once the registration has taken place you will be given, free of charge:

• a pink form to give to your GP with your baby's national health number printed on it
• an abbreviated birth certificate showing your baby's forename(s), surname, sex and date of birth.

If you require any further certificates at the time of registration a fee is charged for each certificate whether it is another abbreviated certificate or a full certificate showing all the details that were entered in the register.

Please note that public registers and certificates are Crown copyright and protected under Section 163 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 so they may not be lawfully reproduced. For the purposes of this guidance, the term copying includes: Photocopying, scanning, filming, reproduction in any other media, including the placing of material on the internet.

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