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Legal requirements

You must register the birth of your baby within 42 days of the birth in England and Wales. If you can't go to the district where your baby was born you can go to another office (still within 42 days) and the registrar will send your details to the appropriate district office. If the baby was born in England or Wales however, it must be registered in England or Wales.

A birth which takes place in England can only be registered in English, but births in Wales may be registered bilingually in English and Welsh. To do this, the details must be given in Welsh and the registrar must be able to understand and write Welsh.

Register office opening hours will vary from one district to another and most have an appointment system.

Who can register the birth?

If parents are married at time of birth or conception, either the mother or father can register the birth on their own.

If they aren’t married, to ensure both parents’ details are included on the birth certificate, there are several options:

• both parents can go and sign the birth register together
• if one parent cannot go to the register office, they will need to complete the statutory declaration form - the parent registering the birth should give the completed form to the registrar
• where there is a parental responsibility agreement in force or either parent has an appropriate court order, this can be presented at the time of registration

If the father's details are not included in the birth register, it may be possible to re-register at a later date.

If the mother or the father cannot attend, the following people can register the birth:

• occupier of the house or hospital where the child was born
• someone who was present at the birth
• someone who is responsible for the child
  

Registering a birth at the register office

You can go to any register office to register the birth of your baby. If you go to the register office in the district where the birth took place, they can issue a birth certificate straight after the registration.

Register office opening hours vary from one district to another and most operate an appointment system. Allow about half an hour to complete the registration process once you are with the registrar.

To find your local office, use our Register Office Finder below.

If you go to a different register office, which does not cover the district in which the birth took place, you can submit the details to register the birth, but they cannot give you a birth certificate. It takes a few further days for you to receive a birth certificate in these circumstances.

Registering your baby’s birth at the hospital

In some cases, you will be able to register the birth while you are still in the hospital. Your hospital will advise if this is possible.

Local information on registering a birth

The following link will let you enter details of where you live and then take you to your local authority website where you can find out more.

• Search for your local register office Opens new window

Parental responsibility

Having parental responsibility for a child means that you are legally responsible for your child's life. Married parents automatically have joint parental responsibility, but this isn't the case for unmarried parents.

• Parental rights and responsibilities

After registering your baby

You will receive a short birth certificate. You will need the birth certificate for a number of reasons including applying for child benefit.

For details on the differences on how this issue is handled across the UK, visit our information pages on Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Information on naming ceremonies

Parents now have the option to have a naming ceremony for their child. This is a non-religious ceremony which celebrates the birth of a child and/or welcomes new children into the family (such as adopted children).

The parents can also nominate adults to support their child - a bit like nominating a godfather and godmother at a christening - although naming ceremonies have no legal standing.

A birth certificate must be produced at the time of booking the ceremony with your local council.

The following link will let you enter details of where you live and then take you to your local council's website where you can find out more.

• Search for your local register office Opens new window

• Order birth, marriage and death certificates

For events in Scotland and Northern Ireland

You can contact the relevant General Register Office using the links below.

• General Register Office for Scotland Opens new window

• General Register Office for Northern Ireland Opens new window