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Births

Registering a birth

Births must be registered within 42 days of the baby being born. They must be registered in the district where it took place.

If you are unable to visit the Register Office for that district, you may go to any other office in England and Wales. In this circumstance, a birth declaration will be taken and sent to the Registration Office in the district where your baby was born.

How to register a birth

To register a birth, you need to make an appointment to visit Neath Port Talbot Register office. Please contact 01639 760021 to arrange an appointment.

Who can register the birth

If the parents were married to each other at the time of the birth, either the mother or father can register the baby. However, if the parents were not married to each other at the time of the birth, the father’s details can only be entered into the register in the following circumstances:

  • Where the mother and father attend together. For unmarried fathers to have equal responsibility for the child, both parents need to register together.
  • Or where the father is unable to attend with the mother, it is possible for him to make a Statutory Declaration, confirming he is the father, which the mother produces to the registrar.
  • Or where the mother is unable to attend with the father, she may make a Statutory Declaration confirming the name of the father, which the father produces to the registrar.
  • Or where either parent has obtained a relevant court order this should be produced to the registrar

Certificates

A certificate is also available from the registrar which records the parents’ details and is a complete copy of the register entry. There is a charge for this certificate and the registrar will advise on the current fee.

Registering births bi-lingually

Births may be registered in Welsh and English (but not Welsh only).

Please telephone the Register Office beforehand on 01639 760021 to make sure a Welsh-speaking registrar is available, as not all our registrars are Welsh-speaking. You must also be able to speak Welsh to register bi-lingually.