Register a birth

Register the birth of your baby in person at Southwark Register Office within 42 days if they were born in Southwark. Birth certificates are £12.50 each and can be pre ordered at the time of booking a birth registration appointment or after you've completed registration.

Contact Lambeth Register Office if your baby was born at St Thomas’ Hospital or King's College Hospital.

A mother can register a birth. The father can only do so if they were married or in a civil partnership when the baby was conceived or born.

If you and your partner are neither married or in a civil partnership but you both want your details on the birth certificate, you must:

• register the birth jointly
• ask the father to complete a statutory declaration form; they do not need to attend the registration of the birth
• provide evidence that a court order is in place or you have a parental responsibility agreement

If your child's father cannot attend or supply the statutory declaration, the birth can be re-registered to add their details later.

Book a birth registration appointment.

When you attend your appointment, bring with you:

• the discharge notes or red book from the hospital
• forms of identity for you both, showing your full names
• your marriage or civil partnership certificate, if one exists

If English is not your first language, you can ask a friend or relative to join you as an interpreter.