What you need for your appointment to register a birth

The evidence you need to bring to your birth registration appointment. 

At your appointment you need information about both the baby and the parents. It is important that the information supplied is accurate as any corrections to the register may be difficult to make.

Evidence you need to provide

When your baby is born, you will be given a birth notification number by the hospital or place where your baby was born. This number may be contained within your personal child health record (PCHR), often known as the 'red book'. We also need the baby's NHS number.

Please bring this information with you to the appointment, along with the other documents and information listed at register a birth on GOV.UK.

Where possible please bring your own passport, driving license, photo ID or utility bill when coming to a birth registration appointment

The baby’s last name

The baby may be registered with any last name but if it is not the mother's or father's this may cause difficulties for the child in later life.

If the parents are not married to each other or are not in a civil partnership

If the parents are not married to each other or are not in a civil partnership, and the baby is registered in the mother’s last name, it may be changed to the father’s last name later if the couple marry and subsequently re-register the birth.

If the parents are not married to each other or are not in a civil partnership, and the baby is given the father’s last name, this cannot be changed at a later date.

Speakers of languages other than English 

If you have difficulty speaking or understanding English, you may bring someone to help you register, together with passports and marriage certificates, where possible. You can ask a friend or relative to come with you but please remember that they cannot come instead of you.