Forms for medical certificates of the cause of death under the Births and Deaths Registration Act, 1953 : prescribed by regulations made by the Registrar General with the approval of the Minister of Health under section 22 (1) of the Births and Deaths Registration Act, 1953 : these forms must be kept in safe custody, not to be used in cases of still-births (see page 1).

General Register Office Northern Ireland

Date:: 1962

Credit: Forms for medical certificates of the cause of death under the Births and Deaths Registration Act, 1953 : prescribed by regulations made by the Registrar General with the approval of the Minister of Health under section 22 (1) of the Births and Deaths Registration Act, 1953 : these forms must be kept in safe custody, not to be used in cases of still-births (see page 1). Source: Wellcome Collection.

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MEDICAL Section 22 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act, 1953, provides that:— (1) “In the case of the death of any person who has been attended during his last illness by a registered medical practitioner, that practitioner shall sign a certificate in the prescribed form stating to the best of his knowledge and belief the cause of death and shall forthwith deliver that certificate to the registrar.” (2) “ On signing a certificate of the cause of death under the foregoing subsection the medical practitioner shall give in the - prescribed form to some qualified informant of the death notice in writing of the signing of the certificate, and that person shall, except where an inquest is held on the body or touching the death of the deceased person, deliver the said notice to the registrar.” (3) “ The Registrar General shall from time to time furnish to every registrar printed forms of the certificates required to be signed by registered medical practitioners under subsection (1) of this section, and every registrar shall furnish such forms free of charge to any registered medical practitioner residing or practising in that registrar’s sub-district.” Certificate to be given in prescribed form The certificate of cause of death given by a registered medical practitioner must therefore be in the prescribed form, and in no I other. The form prescribed is contained in the books of forms supplied by the Registrar General through registrars of births and STATUTORY PROVISIONS RELATING TO CERTIFICATES OF THE CAUSE deaths; and the particulars required to be given must accordingly be stated in the certificate in the manner provided for in the form. Certificate to be delivered forthwith to the Registrar of Births and Deaths The practitioner is provided by the registrar of births and deaths with a supply of official franked envelopes for the purpose if desired of posting the certificates to the registrar. These envelopes must not be used for any other purpose, and no alteration may, in any circumstances, be made in the printing on them. Notice of Signing of Certificate to be given to Informant It is the duty of the practitioner, on signing a certificate of cause of death, to give written notice of the signing to the relative or other person liable to act as informant of the death for registra¬ tion purposes. The form contains a tear-off portion to be used by the practitioner in giving such notice. This tear-oflf portion bears the same serial number as that borne upon the form of certificate itself. The practitioner is required to give the notice to the relative in the case of a particular death upon the tear-off portion of the form upon which he writes and signs the certificate of the cause of such death. Thus the practitioner’s certificate of cause of death and the notice given to the relative that the practitioner has signed such a certificate must bear the same serial number. Particulars of Cause of Death See notes and suggestions on page ii and examples on page vii OF DEATH as to the manner in which the certificate of cause of death should be completed. Stm-births The Births and Deaths Registration Act, 1953, as amended ^ by the Population (Statistics) Act, 1960, requires all still-births to / be registered. A registered medical practitioner who was present at the birth or examined the body of the child must, on the request of the parent or other person who is qualified to give information to the registrar for the purposes of registration, give to that person a certificate stating that the child was not born alive and also, where possible, stating the cause of death and . the estimated duration of the pregnancy. This certificate has to be given to. the registrar by the informant. The forms of certificate of still-birth may be obtained on request from registrars of births and deaths. The forms in this book must not be used in cases of still-birth. The Act defines “ still-born ” and “ still-birth ” for the purpose of still-birth registration as follows:— “ still-bom child means a child which has issued forth from its mother after the twenty-eighth week of pregnancy and which did not at any time after being completely expelled from its mother, breathe or show any other signs of life and the expression ‘still-birth ’ shall be construed accordingly.” Any child which has breathed or shown any other sign of life is considered as live-born for registration purposes. General Register Office, Somerset House, London, W.C.2.

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