Appointments for registering a birth
Before booking your appointment, read the gov.uk guidance on who can register a birth
Births must be registered within 6 weeks (42 days) and you’ll need to confirm:
- Baby's date and place of birth, Baby's forename(s) and surname (with exact spellings)
- Mother's full name, date and place of birth, occupation and maiden name/date of marriage (if applicable)
- Where father's details are being recorded, the same information as for the mother is needed
The centre you wish to attend to register (i.e The Register Office in Heron House, or the Surestart Centre of your choice if you are a Manchester resident)
Booking your appointment
Our appointments get booked up quickly, and we can only open more once a week, usually on a Friday. If there are none available please keep checking: there’s usually more availability early in the week.
What you need to bring with you to your appointment
The only document that you need to bring is the "Red Book" (Personal Child Health Record). A record of the birth is sent to us by the hospital.
But it’s useful, to improve the quality of the information recorded in the registration, if you bring one of the following for both parents: Passport/Utility Bill/Driving Licence/Marriage or Civil Partnership Certificate. Same sex couples do not need to bring their parenthood agreement to the appointment. You will be asked to check and then sign, to confirm that the information recorded is correct. Mistakes can be corrected but only if you pay a significant fee.
Find out what to do if you need to re-register or change details of a birth that has been registered
What documents are available
Choose from:
- A standard certificate, showing all the details recorded in the register. This is available from the registrar, at the time of registration, at a cost of £11.
- A short certificate, showing just the child's details, at a cost of £11.
Any passport application for your child will require a standard birth certificate.