Your appointment

When you attend your appointment to register a birth, you will see the registrar in private and they will ask questions about your baby, and about both parents. These details will be recorded and you will be asked to check this twice and sign that the information recorded is correct.

Please check this information carefully, as it is very difficult to correct this after you have signed. After the registration has been completed and you have signed the document, any applications to correct the entry will have a charge.

The registration will take about 20 minutes. 

Birth certificates

During the registration the registrar will confirm how many certificates you need and give these to you on the day. Birth certificates cost £12.50 each. Please pay for them using a bank or credit card. 

To buy a birth certificate after the time of registration, please order a certificate online.

For certificates of births that were registered outside Cumberland and for all adoption certificates please contact the General Register Office.

For all certificates for births registered before 1837 please contact the Archive Centre. 

All certificates purchased are Crown Copyright and may not be photocopied.