Stillbirth registering

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All stillbirths must normally be registered within 42 days. A stillbirth cannot be registered more than three months after its occurrence.

All you need to take is the medical certificate of stillbirth issued by the doctor or midwife present at the time.

Payment

There is no charge for the registration of a stillbirth.

Please note: Due to the sensitive nature of stillbirth registrations, the procedure for ordering a certificate of the entry differs from other types of certificates. We will only send out the application form after we have been contacted by phone or in writing by the mother or father (if he is named on the certificate). There is a fee for each certificate issued, please see the registration fees page for current charges.

Who can register a stillbirth?

If the parents were married to each other at the time of the stillbirth or conception, then either the mother or father can attend the appointment. If they weren’t, then who goes to the appointment will depend on a number of factors:

• if the father's details are to be entered in the register, then both parents can go and sign the stillbirth register together.
• if the father is unable to go to the registration office with the mother, but still wants his details included, then he can make a statutory declaration on Form 16 acknowledging his paternity which the mother must give to the registrar.
• if the mother is unable to go to the registration office with the father, she may make a statutory declaration acknowledging the father's paternity on the same form as above which the father must give to the registrar.

If the father's particulars are not recorded in the stillbirth register, it may be possible for the stillbirth to be re-registered to include his details at a later date. Although the majority of stillbirths are registered by parents, sometimes neither the mother or the father are able to attend. In this case, registration can be done by whichever of the following people is best able to do so:

• the occupier of the house or hospital where the stillbirth took place
• someone who was present at the stillbirth
• someone who is responsible for the stillborn child
• the person who found the stillborn child (where the date and place of the stillbirth are unknown)

The registrar will ask for the following details:

Child

• date and place of stillbirth
• the forename(s) and surname, if the parents wish to name the stillborn child
• sex of the child

Father (where his information is to be entered in the register)

• forename(s) and surname
• date and place of birth
• occupation at the time of the stillbirth or, if not employed at that time, the last occupation

Mother

• forename(s) and surname
• maiden surname if the mother is, or has been, married
• date and place of birth
• occupation at the time of the stillbirth or, if not employed at that time, the last occupation
• usual address at the date of the stillbirth
• date of marriage, if married to the stillborn child's father at the time of the stillbirth
• number of previous children by the present husband and by any former husband

It is vital that all the information recorded in the stillbirth register is completely correcly. This is why the person registering the stillbirth should check the information very carefully before signing the entry.

Related information

• Registration service office locations and opening times

Related links

• General Register Office
• SANDS (Stillbirth & Neonatal Death Society)

Last updated: 4 January 2012