How to register births

When a new baby is born, the birth should be registered within 42 days.

Firstly, you need to make an appointment with the registrar. You will need to bring your hospital papers that show the baby's NHS number.

You will need to provide the following information:

• the date, time and place of the birth
• whether the baby is a boy or girl
• the forenames and surname that the baby will be given
• the father's full details
• the mother's full details.

Father's details

If the mother and the father are not married and the father cannot come to register the birth with the mother, the father must complete a statutory declaration form to make a declaration that he is the father. This form is available under the download section of this page. 

The form must be witnessed by a practising solicitor, a justice of the peace or a magistrate. 

This completed form must be presented to the registrar at the time of the registration. It is important to make sure that the information recorded on the register is correct. Please make sure you check all the details carefully. 

You can find out more on the General Register Office section of the Directgov website under 'Adding a parent’s details to a birth record'.

What happens next?

You will be given one copy of the short birth certificate free of charge. If you wish to purchase a full birth certificate at the time of registration, they will cost £4 each.

If you wish to buy additional copies of the full birth certificate after the day of registration, there will be a fee of £10.

Re-registering a birth

There may be some circumstances where it is necessary to re-register a birth. 

Adding the natural father’s details

If parents are unmarried and would like the natural father’s details added to the birth record, the parents need to re-register the birth so that a new birth record can be created to replace the original one.

In these circumstances, you will need to complete an ‘application for the re-registration of a child’s birth’ form.

Both parents should attend the register office to provide the necessary information for the re-registration. If this is not possible, they also need to complete the ‘statutory declaration of acknowledgement of parentage’ form.

If the natural parents have married each other since the birth

If the natural parents have married each other since the birth, they need to re-register the birth so that a new birth record can be created showing the child as a child of the parents’ marriage.

In these circumstances, you need to complete an ‘application for re-registration following parents’ marriage’ form.

Other reasons to re-register a birth

Should you wish to re-register a birth for any other reason, please consult the detailed information about re-registering a birth that can be found on the General Register Office website. This site covers the following reasons:

• to correct an error 
• to change the child's forenames (within 12 months) 
• court-issued ‘Declaration of Parentage’.

You can also get advice from our registrars by contacting the Royal Borough of Greenwich's Register Office.