All births must be registered with a registrar in the district where the birth occurred and must be registered within six weeks (42 days) of the date of the birth.

What do I need to do first?

You can make an appointment to register the birth by using our booking service or telephone 03000 415252.

Start

Find out who can register a birth.

If you do not live in Kent or Bexley

If your baby was born in Kent or Bexley but you cannot attend an office here, you can give the details to any registrar in England and Wales.

The details are sent to Kent Libraries, Registrations and Archives service who will register the birth. This is called registration by declaration.

These arrangements also apply if you live in Kent or Bexley and the place of birth was outside of these locations.

If you need any advice about registering a birth telephone 03000 415252.

What to bring

The registrar may ask you to bring some identification documents with you, such as your passport or driving licence, to improve the accuracy of the registration. If you do not bring these documents, your baby can still be registered.

What you will be asked

The registrar will ask you to confirm information about you and the baby and to sign that it is correct. Correcting any mistakes after the register has been signed can cause a delay.

You will officially name your baby at registration. The surname that you give at registration can only be changed by re-registration.

You will receive:

• a short birth certificate
• information about baby welcoming ceremonies

Re-registering a birth

Re-registrations are for parents that were not married at the time of the birth or where the natural father's details were not included in the original birth record.

There are two types of re-registration:

• if the natural parents are unmarried and would like the natural father's details added to the birth record
• if the natural parents have married each other since the birth

Book an appointment to re-register a birth.