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Registering a birth

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When should the birth be registered?
The birth of a baby should be registered within 42 days of the baby being born.
If you fail to register in this period the register office will write to you to remind you of your legal responsibility.

Where can the birth be registered?
The birth must be registered in the register office for the district in which the birth took place. The contact details for the register office for Southampton are shown below.
If it is more convenient, it is possible to go to any other register office. The details will be sent to the correct register office for you and the documentation (e.g. the short birth certificate) will be posted to you.

Who can register the birth?
If the parents of the baby were married to each other at the time of the birth either the mother or father can register the birth.
If the parents were not married to each other the simplest way is for both parents to attend to register together. If this is not possible there are 3 other ways the father’s details can be registered:

1. The father fills in a declaration form to confirm he is the father and the mother gives this form to the register office. Copies of the form are available at all register offices.

2. The mother fills in a declaration form confirming the father’s details and the father registers the birth at the register office alone.

3. In some cases a court order will be made naming the father. In this case the mother can register the birth alone but please contact the register office first.

Although parents register the majority of births, sometimes neither the mother nor the father are able to attend. In this case, registration can be undertaken by whichever of the following people is best able to do so:

• the 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

What surname can the child be given?
The mother of the child can give the child any first and surname she chooses. She may give the child the father’s surname if she wants and she does not need the father’s permission to do this.

A man registered on the birth certificate as the father of the child has no right to insist that the child is given a particular name, for example, his surname.

A married couple can also choose any surname for their child. It does not have to be the name of either of the parents.

Once a surname has been recorded it can only be changed if:

• the parents apply to re-register the baby because they were not married when the baby’s birth was first registered and the father’s details were not recorded; or

• the parents marry one another after the child was born. The birth must be re-registered in this case even if the baby was given the father’s surname when the baby’s birth was first registered.

What information will the register office need?
About the baby:

• The date of the baby’s birth (if the baby is one of twins the time of the birth is also needed)

• The place of the baby’s birth

• The sex of the child

• The forename(s) and surname

About the father:

• His forename and surname

• His date and place of birth

• His occupation or if not employed at that time, the last occupation

About the mother:

• Her forename and surname

• Maiden surname if the mother is, or has been, married

• Her date and place of birth

• Her occupation or if not employed at that time, the last occupation

Other details:

• The date of the marriage, if the parents of the baby were married to each other at the time of the birth

• The number of children the mother has had previously by her present husband and any former husband

What documents will the register office issue?
When the birth has been registered the register office will give you a short birth certificate free of charge. This shows the name(s) and surname, sex and date and district of birth of the child.

Full birth certificates that show the parents’ details are also available to buy.

A FP58 form will be given to you so that the child can be included on the doctor’s list. You should give this form to the doctor’s surgery as soon as possible. Please note that the register office can only give you one copy of this form.

The Register Office
6a Bugle St
Southampton
SO14 2LX
023 8091 5327
registrars@southampton.gov.uk

Last updated: 12 October 2007