Register a birth

You must register a birth within 42 days (6 weeks) of a baby being born. This must be in person at a register office.

If your baby was born in Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport or Torfaen council areas, you can register the birth in any of the register offices in those council areas. Please contact your local office using the links below to make an appointment. 

If you can’t come to one of these offices, you may attend another register office in England or Wales and they will send the details to us. Likewise, if your baby is born outside these council areas, you can attend any of these offices and registrars will send the details to the district where the baby was born.

Please contact us to book an appointment.

Don’t miss out on Child Benefit

Child benefit

Information about Child Benefit can be found on GOV.UK including the Child Benefit claim form CH2 (CH2 Claim Form). For your first child, this must be printed out, filled in, and sent to the Child Benefit office.

If you don’t have access to a printer, you can call 0300 200 3100 and HMRC will send you a form in the post.

The form also contains information for the small minority of families who may be eligible for the High-Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC).

If you already have a Child Benefit claim, you can add further children by calling HMRC on the number above.

Who can register the birth?

If the parents were married to or in a civil partnership with each other at the time of the birth, then the mother, the father or the second female parent can register the birth.

However, if the parents were not married or in a civil partnership with each other at the time of the birth, the father or second female parent's details can only be entered into the register if:

  • both parents attend the registration together, or
  • the father or second female parent is unable to attend with the mother and so the father or second female parent makes a statutory declaration, confirming their parentage. The mother will need to produce this declaration to the registrar, or
  • the mother is unable to attend with the father or second female parent so makes a statutory declaration, confirming the name of the father or second female parent, which the father or second female parent should produce to the registrar, or
  • either parent can produce a relevant court order

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 provides definitions of ‘parenthood’ regarding who is the father or second female parent (i.e. the mother's female partner) of a child born to a woman as a result of the placing in her of an embryo or of sperm and eggs or her artificial insemination.

To make a statutory declaration of parentage you must complete an application form that has to be witnessed by a Justice of the Peace, Magistrate, Commissioner for Oaths, Practising Solicitor or Notary Public. Please contact us for a form.

Documents that you will need to bring with you

To help us to make sure we accurately record births you should bring some of the following documents with you to the appointment to confirm the details of the parents:

  • Council tax bill
  • Driving licence
  • Passport
  • All marriage/civil partnership certificates of the parents including previous marriages or civil partnerships
  • Birth certificate
  • Any change of name documents or deeds
  • Any other documents that can support the information to be contained in the register

Please provide documents wherever possible so that we can make sure our records are accurate.

What will I be issued with?

If your baby was born within the Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport or Torfaen registration districts, at the initial registration, the registrar will issue you with birth certificates for the appropriate fee. You may purchase a short birth certificate showing the baby's forenames and surname, sex, date of birth and district and sub-district of birth OR

A full birth certificate, which is a complete copy of the register entry and shows the parents’ names. The full certificate is required when applying for a passport for anyone born after 1983. For costs, visit our charges and fees for certificates section.

If your baby was born in another district and we are sending details on to that district, we will not be able to issue any documents to you. They will be issued by the registrars in the district in which the child was born and sent to you by post. 

Certificates are Crown Copyright and should not be photocopied for official purposes.

Re-registering a birth

There are various circumstances when a birth may need to be re-registered:

  • Re-registering a birth following a marriage or civil partnership
  • Re-registering a birth without a marriage or civil partnership
  • Re-registering a birth in other circumstances via a Declaration of Parentage

Visit the re-register a birth section for details.

Privacy Notice

Registration service privacy notice (PDF)

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