
Birth registration services
Who can register a birth?
If you’re married or in a legal civil partnership:
- either parent can register the birth
- both parents will be named on the birth certificate
If you’re not married or in a legal civil partnership:
- the father cannot register the birth on his own, but can go with the mother
- only parents who go to the Register Office will be named on the birth certificate
Information you will need before you register
When registering the birth, you should know:
- place and date of birth of baby
- baby's first name, last name and sex
- parents' full name and address
- parents' place and date of birth
- parents' jobs
- mother's address
- mother's maiden name
- date of the baby's parents' marriage or civil partnership
In order to improve the accuracy of the information contained in the registration and reduce the need for corrections, it is recommended that you bring supporting documentation with you to your appointment.
Examples of recognised supporting documentation include:
- passport
- council tax bill
- driving license
- all marriage/civil partnership certificates
- birth certificate
- deed poll documentation
- What you need to do
You must register a birth within 42 days of the child being born. You should do this at the local Register Office for the district where the baby was born.
Make an appointment
To register a birth please book an appointment with us:
If you need further clarification about your appointment before booking, please complete the Enquiry Form and one of our dedicated team will respond to you.
Registering a birth by declaration
If you are unable to register the birth in the district where the baby was born, you may register the birth by declaration. Please see the information below relating to where you can register:
- if your baby was born outside Worcestershire and you live outside Worcestershire then you will need to contact the registration office in the district where you live
- if your baby was born outside of Worcestershire but you are a resident of Worcestershire then you have a choice of attending a Worcestershire registration office and stating the particulars for the registration; these details will then be posted to the office for the district where the birth occurred; there will be a delay in you receiving the birth certificate
- alternatively, you may wish to attend the relevant registration office in person and receive your certificate immediately; if the latter is your preferred option you cannot make an appointment here but will need to contact the relevant office direct
Please see the GOV.UK website for alternative registration offices.
Errors and corrections
As part of the appointment you will be given the registration page to check; this is to make sure all the details you have given are correct to the best of your knowledge.
You must also check to make sure you have spelt everything correctly, your signature on this document is your confirmation that you are happy with all the details given (this includes all spellings) any errors noticed once the registration has been completed are now subject to a consideration fee for the correction application*.
* Consideration by Registrar/Superintendent Registrar of a correction application £75.00.
* Consideration by the Registrar General of a correction application £90.00.
If a correction is required please contact us via email at registeroffice@worcestershire.gov.uk.
For further guidance on the correction process, the GOV.UK - Register a birth website provides comprehensive information.
Request a copy birth certificate
You can easily request a copy birth certificate
Re-register a birth
There are two circumstances where a birth can be re-registered
- adding father's details if not recorded at the initial registration
If the parents are unmarried and would like the natural father's details added to the birth record, they need to re-register the birth so that a new birth record can be created to replace the original one - if the child's parents have married since the child was born
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
How to re-register a birth
You are required to book an appointment in a Register Office in the district in which the birth occurred.
Re-registrations for births inside of Worcestershire
If your child was born in Worcestershire you can make an appointment at any of our Worcestershire Registration Offices and receive the birth certificate immediately.
Re-registrations for births outside Worcestershire
Re-registered births can only be registered in the registration district in which the birth occurred. However, it is possible to provide the information to any Register Office in England or Wales.
These details will then be posted to the office for the district where the birth occurred. There will be a delay in you receiving the birth certificate as you will need to contact the register office in the district where the birth occurred and order the certificates directly with them.
Alternatively, you may wish to attend the relevant Registration Office in person and receive your certificate immediately. If the latter is your preferred option you cannot make an appointment here but will need to contact the relevant office direct.
Make an appointment
To re-register a birth please book an appointment with us:
If you need further clarification about your appointment before booking, please complete the Enquiry Form and one of our dedicated team will respond to you.
More information about adding the fathers name to a child's birth certificate can be found on the GOV.UK - Adding a father's name to a birth certificate website.
Documentation Required
To re-register a birth, you need:
- a completed GRO 185 form (for each child) – If adding natural father: GOV.UK - Application to re-register a child’s birth and add the natural father's details
- a completed LA1 form (for each child) – If marriage of natural parents: GOV.UK - Application to re-register a birth following marriage or civil partnership of natural parents
- each child's full birth certificate (this is the one with parents details on)
- £11.00 for each new certificate issued – payable at time of appointment by cash, cheque, postal order or card, this is unless your appointment is a re-registration by declaration then you will need to contact the register office in the district where the birth occurred and order the certificates directly with them
- If you are the natural parents who have married each other since birth we will need to see an original copy of the marriage certificate
NB. If the marriage was outside of the UK and the Marriage certificate is not already in English, then a translation is required, as well as the original marriage certificate. These documents may be sent off to the General Register Office to be authenticated, if so your appointment will not be able to be completed until authorisation has been granted.