Cookstown District Council

Living in Cookstown

Registration Services

Registering a birth

When to register

Legally, You must register your baby's birth within 42 days of the date of birth.

Where to register

You have 2 options on where to register the birth:

Either in the registration district where your baby was born.  (In some hospitals the Registrar attends the maternity ward on certain days)or at the Registrar’s Office in the district where the mother normally lived at the time of the birth.

Who can register

If the baby's parents are married when the baby is born, then either one of you can register the birth.

If baby's parents are unmarried but you want to include both their details in the register then you must both go.

If you are not married you are not obliged to include the father's details on the birth certificate. If you don't and you want to at later date there are special procedures that may allow you to do so. Contact the Registrar for more information.

If the baby’s parents are unable to register the birth then any of the following people can do so:

Grandmother, grandfather, aunt or uncle of the baby who has knowledge of the birth

The occupier of the premises in which the baby was born

Any person present at birth

Any person having charge of the child

Information you must provide

The Registrar will ask for a ‘Notice to Mothers’ which should be completed by the person registering the birth (Normally the .  The form will either be given t you at the maternity hospital or at the Registrar’s Office. The form requests the following information:

Download a birth registration form.   Download form  go to www.belfastcity.gov.uk/births/

1.        Baby's full name and sex

2.        The date and place of birth (for multiple births you will also need to give the times of birth)

3.        The parents' full names and dates and places of birth

4.        The parents' occupations

5.        The date of the parents' marriage (where applicable) and the number of previous children

6.        The mother's address and her maiden name

Certificates and forms

There are two kinds of birth certificate - the long certificate is a full copy of the entry and the short copy which only gives the child's name, date and place of birth. It will not show either of the parent's names.

When you register the birth you will be given a short certificate, which confirms the entry in the register along with a HS123 form to register the baby with a doctor. This is free.

You can ask for extra copies of the birth certificate. You will be charged a fee £5.50 for these but they can be very useful. If you are applying for benefits, you will need to send original certificates with your claims, so extra copies may save you time and help you to get any entitlement faster.