Please telephone to make an appointment beforehand. The birth of a baby should be registered within 42 days of the baby being born. It is the responsibility of the mother (or father where they are married to each other at the time the baby was born) to register the birth. The birth must be registered in the Register Office for the district where the baby was born but if it is more convenient you may attend any other officer within England and Wales to make a declaration. In this case arrangements will be made by the Register Office concerned for the details to be forwarded by post to the correct office and you will receive the registration documents through the post from the registering office at a later date.
If you choose to attend to register in the district where the baby was born you will receive a short birth certificate (giving details of the baby's name and date of birth only) and a form for the baby to registered with a doctor immediately at the end of the registration. Extra birth certificates may also be purchased at the time, including a standard birth certificate showing parents details.
If both parents are not married to each other at the time of the baby's birth in order to include the father's details in the child's birth record and therefore on the birth certificate both parents should attend the register office together to register the birth. Where there are difficulties in either the mother or the father attending it is possible for one parent to register alone with a statutory declaration of parentage completed by the absent parent and witnessed by a person qualified to do so (e.g. a practising solicitor) or by the production of a relevant court order. Please seek advice from the office concerned.
Leaflets explaining the process in more detail are available in local libraries or from the Register Office itself. You can also download a copy of the "Registering a Birth" leaflet (PDF 87Kb). See also our Fact Sheet on Registering a Birth.
Where a mother has registered her child's birth without the natural father's details, the parents can apply together to re-register the birth to include these details. It is possible to change the surname of the child at the same time.
A re-registration will also apply if the parents have married each other since the birth of their baby. This procedure allows the child to have a new updated birth record e.g. enter the mother's married name where parents are re-registering because they have married each other since the birth.
For an application form or further information on this process please contact the Oldham Register Office in person or by telephone 0161 678 0137 Monday to Friday 9.00am to 4.30pm. You can also see our Fact Sheet on Re-registering a Birth.