Council’s Registration team will be able to register births from Monday

Parents of babies born in Cheshire West and Chester will be able to register their birth from Monday 15 June.

Restrictions introduced at the start of the Covid-19 lockdown meant birth registrations had to be suspended.  These restrictions were recently relaxed allowing the Council’s Registration team to now offer appointments to register births.

By law a face-to-face appointment is needed and measures have been put in place to help keep parents and registration staff safe.  These include the installation of screens, providing hand sanitiser and using rooms that allow space for social distancing.

Although birth certificates will not be passed over at the appointment (to remove the need for unnecessary contact) they can be ordered online following registration and will usually be dispatched within 48 hours of ordering.

Birth registrations have not been permitted for a number of months and parents are asked to make an appointment as follows:

• Babies born in February and March: please book an appointment as soon as possible.
• Babies born in April:  an appointment from 1 July onwards should be booked.
• For all other babies an appointment may be booked from 1 July, but the appointment should not be any sooner than 14 days after the baby was born.

The Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Environment, Highways and Strategic Transport, Councillor Karen Shore said: “I’m sure many new parents will be delighted we are able to start registering births in the borough.  Please follow the guidance on how and when to arrange your appointment and, of course, don’t attend if you or someone in your household has symptoms.

“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank residents for their patience and support during this challenging time. Our registration team will continue to review its services and regular updates will be provided on the Council’s website.”

Please do not visit the register office if you, or someone in your household, has a high temperature, a new, continuous cough, a loss of, or change to, sense of smell or taste; or if anyone in your household is self-isolating and/or currently shielding. Please wait to register the birth when it is safe to do so.

Appointments are available from Monday at Chester Register Office. Appointments at Ellesmere Port (Civic Way building) and Winsford (Wyvern House) will made available as soon as alterations to provide protection against Covid-19 transmission are complete.

Parents can book an appointment online via the registration pages of the Council’s website or by telephoning 0300 123 7037.

The Registration team will continue to register deaths in addition to births.  Restrictions on weddings have not yet been lifted and understandably there have been an unprecedented number of enquiries about weddings.  The team will continue to respond to these enquiries but are unable to take new ceremony bookings at this time.  Priority is being given to assisting couples who already have a ceremony booked.