Births

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the registration and re-registration of births will be by appointment only. 

Please arrive five minutes before your appointment time. If you turn up late for your appointment, you will not be seen and have to make another appointment. 

To help minimise face to face contact time for your safety and ours:

• You must wear a face covering that covers your nose and mouth unless you are exempt for medical reasons when attending all appointments or ceremonies at the Register Office.  

• We ask that only essential persons attend. For married or civil partnered parents, only one parent should attend. If parents are not married or in a civil partnership, both should attend. Please minimise risk by only bringing children if childcare cannot be arranged.
• We ask not currently accepting cash for certificate payments. If you wish to purchase birth certificates at the appointment please have a credit or debit card with you. These are £11 each. If you do not have a card with you at the appointment, certificates can be ordered via the contact centre (01895 250418) and will be posted to you.

Please note: due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic,  it may be necessary to cancel and/or reschedule appointments and ceremonies at short notice due to changes in government restriction, or the need for our staff to self-isolate. By booking at this time you agree that you understand and accept the risk of late notice cancellations and/or rescheduling.

Make an appointment to re-register a birth

A child's birth can be re-registered to include up-to-date information if:

• the natural father's details weren't entered at the time of the original birth registration
• the child's parents have married after the original birth registration

Addition of father's details 

You can apply for a re-registration to be made to include the father's details by completing  this form [198KB] . Once the form has been completed, you can make an appointment for both parents to visit the register office to sign the new birth registration.

Parents who marry following the original birth registration

You are required by law to re-register the birth within three months of the marriage, even if your baby was originally registered with the father's surname. Once this form [159KB] is completed, you can make an appointment for either parent to visit the register office to sign the new birth registration. You will need to bring a copy of your marriage certificate when you attend. 

Please note: your appointment may be cancelled and re-booked for a later date if your form is incomplete when you attend. 

Change of first name

You can change your child's first name(s) on the birth certificate within 12 months of the date of the original registration. This will appear in space 17 of the birth certificate.

You will need to complete a simple form which is available from the Register Office. 

Change of name deed

The Register Office now offer a change of name deed service for adults or children who are British Citizens who wish to change their forenames or surname. Please contact the Register Office for more information.