Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953

11 Special provision as to registration of still-births

(1) Any qualified informant giving information to the registrar of the particulars required to be registered concerning a still-birth shall upon giving that information either—

(a) deliver to the registrar a written certificate that the child was not born alive, signed by a registered medical practitioner or certified midwife who was in attendance at the birth or who has examined the body of the child; or

(b) make a declaration in the prescribed form to the effect that no registered medical practitioner or certified midwife was present at the birth or has examined the body, or that his or her certificate cannot be obtained, and that the child was not born alive.

(2) The registrar upon registering a still-birth shall, if so required, give either to the informant or to the person who has control over, or who ordinarily effects the disposal of bodies at, the place at which it is intended to dispose of the child's body a certificate under his hand in the prescribed form that he has registered the still-birth, but may, on receiving written notice of the still-birth accompanied by such a certificate as is mentioned in paragraph (a) of the foregoing subsection, before registering the still-birth give to the person sending the notice a certificate that he has received notice of the still-birth; and any certificate given under this subsection shall be given without fee.

(3) A registrar by whom a certificate has been given under the last foregoing subsection may, upon receiving a satisfactory explanation of any circumstances by reason of which the certificate is not available for the purposes of the enactments relating to the disposal of the bodies of dead persons, issue on payment of the prescribed fee a duplicate thereof either to the person to whom the original certificate was given or to the person effecting the disposal; and any such duplicate certificate shall be in a distinctive form.