Birth registration spike

Holness

THE REGISTRAR General's Department (RGD) is reporting a sharp increase in the number of babies being registered immediately after birth, and chief executive officer of the RGD, Dr Patricia Holness, is crediting the bedside-registration process for the increase.

"For 2008, the Victoria Jubilee Hospital had 8,746 births and all were registered. for 2009, the hospital had 8,650 and again all were registered," Holness told The Gleaner yesterday, as she welcomed the first-born babies at that institution.

More fathers

"We have found that many more fathers are approaching the hospital at the registration booths to have their names entered on the birth certificates," added Holness.

She noted that the RGD's bedside-registration process was not restricted to public hospitals.

"We also cover nine private hospitals and birthing centres. This is about 28 major facilities with fewer than 2,000 births occurring at home, so we are getting much better at capturing the data early," said Holness.

The bedside-registration process was started in January 2007 to capture data on newborn at birth.

Since its inception, the number of unmarried fathers adding their particulars to their children's birth records has risen from 30 per cent to over 65 per cent.