Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Scotland) Act 1965

21 Still-births

(1) Except so far as otherwise provided by this section or as may be prescribed, the provisions of this Part of this Act shall, so far as applicable, apply to still-births in like manner as they apply to births of children born alive.

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

(a) deliver to the registrar a certificate in the prescribed form stating that the child was not born alive, and, where possible, the cause or probable cause of death and such particulars of the condition of the mother before the still-birth as may be requested in that form, which certificate shall, if a registered medical practitioner was present at the birth or has examined the body of the child, be signed by him, and otherwise shall be signed by any certified midwife who was present or examined the body; or

(b) make a declaration in the prescribed form to the effect that to the best of his knowledge and belief 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.

(3) Every registered medical practitioner or certified midwife who was present at a still-birth or examined the body of a still-born child shall, at the request of any person who by virtue of this Act is required to give information concerning that birth, give to that person a certificate for the purposes of paragraph (a) of the last foregoing subsection.

(4) The registrar, upon registering a still-birth, shall give to the informant without fee a certificate in the prescribed form stating that the still-birth has been registered.

(5) The keeper or other person having the charge of a place of interment in which the body of a still-born child shall have been buried shall, unless a certificate given under the last foregoing subsection in respect of the still-birth has been delivered to him, give, within three days after the burial, notice thereof in the prescribed form to the registrar of the registration district in which the still-birth took place.

(6) In this section " certified midwife " means a woman who is certified under the [1951 c. 54.] Midwives (Scotland) Act 1951.