Information you need when attending your appointment to register a birth.
At your appointment you need information about both the baby and the parents. It is important that the information supplied is accurate as any corrections to the register may be difficult to make.
When your baby is born, the hospital or place of birth will give you a birth notification. This may be contained in your Personal Child Health Record (PCHR), also known as the red book.
Bring the birth notification or red book to your appointment. You must also bring valid identification for the person registering the birth. Due to legislative change, we cannot register a birth without identification. View the full list of documents.
Your baby may be registered with any surname. If you choose a surname that is different from either parent's surname, it may cause difficulties for your child later in life.
Once you have registered the birth, you cannot change your baby's surname.
Please bring someone to help you register together with passports and marriage certificates, where possible. You can ask a friend or relative to come with you but please remember that they cannot come instead of you.