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A stillbirth is when a baby is born dead after 24 completed weeks of pregnancy. If the baby dies before 24 completed weeks, it's known as a miscarriage or late foetal loss.
A stillbirth should be registered within 42 days.
If the stillbirth is registered after 42 days, this will be referred to the General Register Office for authorisation.
Contact us to register a stillbirth:
We will make every effort to send a registrar to your home or to the hospital to register the stillbirth at a time convenient for you.
You can also register the stillbirth at one of our register offices.
When you register the stillbirth, you will be given a stillbirth certificate. You can name the baby in the register and arrange a funeral for your baby. You'll be given a form that allows you to make arrangements for either burial or cremation.
Separate procedures apply where the the stillbirth has been referred to the Coroner.
If the baby's parents are married, either the mother or father can register.
The mother can sign if:
If both parents want the father's name in the register:
If the father registers the stillbirth and the parents aren't married, the mother will need to make a 'signed declaration'. Contact us for more information.
The following people can register the stillbirth:
You need the medical certificate of stillbirth issued by the doctor or midwife, unless the still-birth has been referred to the Coroner, in which case the Coroner's office will advise you what to do.
We will ask you for:
You can still go to a Dorset Council register office to register by 'declaration'. We will send this onto the register office in the district where the baby was born and they will send you the certificate, usually within a week.
If you would like any information on support available to you, contact us or visit the GOV.UK website.
For more information about how we handle your personal data see the Registration Service Privacy Notice.