Registering a birth
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. Please 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 us for further information.
Birth certificates
Once the registration has taken place you will be given, free of charge:
- 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. Certificates can still be purchased after the date of Registration, please see our certificate services page for further details.
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.