Birth Registration
Mission:
- Birth registration and Legal section strives to provide excellent and proficient customer service.
- Birth certificates are registered and submitted to the State of Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals in a timely manner to ensure that parents receive their child's birth certificate and social security cards in a timely manner.
- Our goal is to ensure that new parents receive the proper document required to enroll their newborn in DEERS. Parents will be issued a Verification of Birth memorandum and a SSA-2853 that shows proof that a social security number has been applied for through this office.
- All legal requests, subpoenas, and affidavits received by this office are properly screened and reviewed by the JAG.
- All requests are screened to ensure that they are HIPAA compliant and valid.
Pre-Admission
Please go to the Admission Office when you are at least 34 weeks pregnant to get pre-admitted and begin the Birth Certificate Worksheet. This is to make your labor flawless without delay.
Acknowledgement of Paternity
If you and your baby’s biological father are not married, and biological father wants his name on the Birth Certificate, an Acknowledgement of Paternity (AOP) must be completed. If there is a presumed father, he too must sign the denial portion of the AOP. We can assist you with this, but in order to have it processed by BJACH, it must be finished within 5 days of the baby’s birth, regardless of religious belief. NOTE: An AOP cannot be signed before the birth of your baby.
Discharge
If you are discharged without completing the birth certificate, please see Birth Registration or call to let us know you will be coming in. It is important that all information is correct and must be personally verified. We do not take information over the phone. If the worksheet is incomplete and has not been verified or signed by the parent(s) with the time frame, we will release the information to the state. BJACH is not responsible for any corrections that may result in an incomplete Birth Certificate. It is the responsibility of the parent(s) to ensure birth facts are verified with the time frame of local state laws.
Other Information
BJACH Birth office processes approximately 60 birth certifications per month. The information is electronically transmitted to the Vital Statistics Office in New Orleans. Parents must visit the Birth Registration Office on the first floor room 1201 before leaving the hospital to review the Birth Certificate worksheet for accuracy. Parents are also given a copy of the Verification of Birth & Social Security Memo to take DEERS office to enroll the newborn into the system. The Bureau of Vital Statistics processes the paperwork for the child's Birth Certificate & Social Security Number; both items are mailed directly to the parents' home in about 6-8 weeks. To request copies of any births in Louisiana go to Department of Health & Hospitals website www.dhh.louisiana.gov click on Public Health link you will see it under "I Need To..." Click " Get a Copy" you will find prices, details and ordering instructions are there.