Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

Theoretical question about registering a birth.

33 replies

FlamingoAndJohn · 18/11/2019 07:10

I’m reading a book at the moment where a girl has got pregnant and the resulting baby is registered as being her parents baby and brought up to believe that her mother is her sister.

Now I know I couple of people who have grown up to discover their sister was really their mum. But my question is about registering the baby.

I’ve never had to register a birth but is there any proof that the baby is actually yours? Could I stroll into the registrars office tomorrow with a newborn and claim it to be mine? Do they check?

OP posts:
BrokenLink · 18/11/2019 07:17

When a baby us born one of the legal responsibilities of the midwife is to inform the local registrar. The notification will include the mother's name and date of birth. So your scenario would not happen.

Thewheelsarefallingoff · 18/11/2019 07:22

There wouldn't necessarily be a midwife present though @BrokenLink

Original poster
FlamingoAndJohn · 18/11/2019 07:24

That was going to be my question. Giving birth without a midwife is not unheard of.

OP posts:

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Families
GaaaaarlicBread · 18/11/2019 07:27

I’ve wondered this before , as I don’t have a child yet so not gone through registering etc . Like if I gave birth at home , I could quite easily get away with not being the mum ?? I always thought I sounded stupid so didn’t want to ask on here 🤣

GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman · 18/11/2019 07:33

If you have a baby without a midwife or doctor present, but then register the baby with the GP, whoever you see will want to examine you to ensure that you are AOK after giving birth unattended.

I suppose sometimes someone who is not the mother is registered is such, but it seems unlikely. The father of a friend of mine was brought up thinking his granny was his mum, and his mum his older sister, but the truth came out when he was called up for National Service (1940s) and saw his birth certificate. So even then...

bookmum08 · 18/11/2019 07:43

You can literally walk in and declare you have a baby to register. You don't have to have any proof you have given birth or even take a baby along. You don't even need to have proof of id for yourself - at least 11 years ago you didn't.
Quite surprising really considering some of the things you do need id for.

FridalovesDiego · 18/11/2019 07:48

What makes you say that Bookmum08? Did you have an unattended birth in 2008?

SoupDragon · 18/11/2019 07:51

I'm sure I had an official bit of paper from the hospital/midwife detailing when and where my DC were born and they range from age 13 to 20.

userabcname · 18/11/2019 07:51

I registered my newborn a couple of weeks ago and needed ID (passport for me) and baby's red book.

owlofathena · 18/11/2019 08:02

I'm pretty certain both myself and husband needed Id and I needed to present the red book to register my daughter.

Cherylshaw · 18/11/2019 08:20

I was given some sort of official document fron the hospital that the registrar had to see before registering the birth.

bookmum08 · 18/11/2019 08:52

Frida no I gave birth in a hospital. We were given a piece of paper with all the birth details on, we took passports and our birth certificate and I think I bunch of proof of address things. Didn't have to show any of it. I was quite shocked.
Apparently people have been known to register 'fake' babies as benefit scams. I remember reading one couple got caught out because they forgot to leave 9 months between babies.

TheQueens · 18/11/2019 08:57

I gave birth last December, we got given a document on NHS headed paper stating where he was born, my details, time he was born etc and had to take that along with us to register him. Interesting point though, I have heard of it happening before just not sure how they would go about registering the baby.....

Mammyofasuperbaby · 18/11/2019 09:01

We only had to take our proof of address and id to register our son. He didn't have a red book yet and was still in hospital so didn't come with us. I don't remember being given proof of his existence to give the registrar. This was 3 years ago but the hospital may have informed them without telling me

Celebelly · 18/11/2019 09:03

We were given a form from the hospital with details on that we had to take with us to register. It had my name on.

SarahAndQuack · 18/11/2019 09:03

When we registered DD's birth we had masses of paperwork with us and were concerned it'd be complicated, because we're an unmarried same-sex couple, but in fact the registrar was so excited (we were her first unmarried same-sex couple; I think possibly the first lesbian mums she'd registered for), she didn't actually check much. I remember she glanced at the red book, though.

I was surprised how informal and easy it was.

bookmum08 · 18/11/2019 09:07

If the parents are married the husband can register the birth without the mother being there so again probably easy to 'fake'. I suppose they (the government) can't discriminate against people who don't have any form of photo identification. I don't have a driving licence and the only reason I have a passport is because I was struggling for photo id. When I had my baby in '08 my passport was years out of date (last used almost a decade before in 1999). My current passport has never been used as an actual passport. Bloody expensive 'id card'!! (I would like to re assure you all I haven't registered any fake babies for benefit scams Grin)

Venger · 18/11/2019 09:09

If you have a baby without a midwife or doctor present, but then register the baby with the GP, whoever you see will want to examine you to ensure that you are AOK after giving birth unattended.

You could refuse the examination though as the doctor would need consent to carry it out.

You can literally walk in and declare you have a baby to register. You don't have to have any proof you have given birth

When we registered DD two years ago we had to take ID and her red book or something with her NHS number on it. The registrar used my name and date of birth to look up the notice from the hospital which showed my name, dob, and NHS number, that I had delivered a baby girl on such-and-such a date, the place of birth, and the baby's NHS number. She then checked the NHS number and dob on the system against those on DD's red book to see if they matched.

JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff · 18/11/2019 09:13

Yeah, with the DTs I don't think we had to provide anything. The hospital had some shared system with the local registrars and so they knew I had given birth to a baby boy and girl on xx date.

But as for confirming that I was really their mum etc, no. I also took my passport etc and it was waved away. There was no red book or hospital discharge paperwork as they were still in NICU.

With DD1, I had a home birth which was assisted so a piece of paper, but I basically just walked into the GP's to register her. No one examined me and I could have just swiped the baby I suppose!

GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman · 18/11/2019 09:18

You could refuse examination though Yes, you could, but if you've had midwife care through your pregnancy your GP should know about it. There must be checks in place to ensure that every woman who is known to be pregnant delivers the baby.

I suppose you might get away with it if the actual mother never saw a midwife, and the putative mother refused an examination, but even then I'm not sure how registration would work, at least now.

Ginfordinner · 18/11/2019 09:18

bookmum08 would it not be cheaper to have a provisional driving licence instead? DD has one, even though she has no intention of learning to drive yet as she is 19, but looks about 15.

ElphiasDoge · 18/11/2019 09:20

I was really gutted not to be able to take DS with us to register him. I’d always imagined that would be our first big trip out but he was still in NICU and actually NICU weren’t happy to discharge him until we did register him.

I had a letter from the hospital detailing his labour and delivery which had my details on. They just presumed we were who we said we were though, no other proof except the piece of paper. Not sure if they have a joined up system as well as bits of paper. I suppose one could doctor the mothers name and date of birth...

JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff · 18/11/2019 09:24

Grumpy You know, though, I am just thinking of a case I read about where a woman was very sadly raped and conceived, and it was one of those where she didn't realise (or was in denial) about being pregnant, only realised when she was in labour, etc. There are women who have no antenatal care as they just don't know they are pg. And might well give birth alone/ refuse examination.

I know it sounds far-fetched but there are so many people with chaotic lives, I'm sure that happens more often than we think.

I am totally over-invested in this now!

Ginfordinner · 18/11/2019 09:24

www.gov.uk/register-birth

Venger · 18/11/2019 09:25

I suppose you might get away with it if the actual mother never saw a midwife, and the putative mother refused an examination, but even then I'm not sure how registration would work, at least now

I'm fairly certain it would probably trigger a safeguarding concern too if the mother had no history of midwife involvement, never had official recognition of the pregnancy through medical records, suddenly appeared with a newborn in tow, and refused to be examined. I don't know how far such a concern would go though as even if it did meet social services thresholds for investigation they wouldnt be able to take the baby without compelling evidence and couldn't force the "mother" to be examined or submit to testing to prove parentage without a court order.

Swipe left for the next trending thread