You must register a birth within 42 days of the baby being born.
Where to register
You can register a birth that occurs in South Gloucestershire at any of our register offices. Our registrars are located at Poole Court in Yate, Kingswood Civic Centre and Frenchay Hospital. Please telephone to make an appointment, or use the "Registrar - make an appointment" link on this page for on-line bookings. We may also have appointments at Thornbury Council Offices on Monday afternoons, please telephone for more information. If the birth took place outside South Gloucestershire, for example at Southmead Hospital, you can still provide us with details. We will pass the information you provide to the registrar for that area. The receiving registrar will register your baby's birth and send you the birth certificate.
Who can register
If you are married at the time of the birth, either parent can register the birth. If you are not married and you want the details of the father to appear on the birth certificate both of you need to attend to register the birth and sign the register.
If the father's name is not included on the birth certificate at the time of the registration, it can be entered at a later date. Please contact a registrar if you would like to do this.
Information needed to register
You will need to tell the registrar:
The baby's
- First names and surname
- Date and place of birth
- Gender (male or female)
The father's
- Full name and surname
- Date and place of birth
- Current (or last) job
- Address
The mother's
- Full names and surname including any previous surnames
- Date and place of birth
- Address
- Current (or last) job
- Date of marriage (if applicable)
- Number of previous children
It is important that the information in the register is correct.
You should check the entry before you sign.
Issue of certificates
If the baby was born in South Gloucestershire you will be issued with a short birth certificate. The birth certificate shows the baby's full names and their date and place of birth.
You can request a full birth certificate. The fee for this is £4.00 if issued at the time of registration. If you request a birth certificate later, from a current register, the fee will be £7.00. After the register is deposited with the Superintendent Registrar the fee rises to £10.00. Please note that Registrars in South Gloucestershire can accept card payments, cash, cheques or postal orders for the certificates they issue.
Full birth certificates are usually required by government departments such as the Passport Agency.
We can only issue a certificate if your baby was born in South Gloucestershire.
Express Certificate Service
From 1st May 2012 we are offering an express certificate service for urgent applications. Applications must be received at the Register Office by 12 noon in order for us to issue the certificate by 4.00pm the same day. The total fee for this will be £21.00, which includes the £10.00 certificate fee. Please telephone for further information on this service.