Birth Parent Worksheet is Not an Order Form
We are asking staff to remind parents that the Birth Parent Worksheet they complete at the hospital is not an order form for a birth certificate. The worksheet only provides information so that the birth can be registered. The first page of the worksheet alerts parent about this important piece of information.
If hospitals provide order forms for birth certificates, make sure family members know they need to complete the order forms and send them to the County Vital Records Office where the birth occurred (within six months after the birth) or the State Vital Records Office along with the appropriate fees and ID. Parents can also find information about ordering a birth certificate on our website or the County Vital Records website for the county in which the birth occurred.
Please encourage parents to order their child’s birth certificate within the first year of birth. Not only is it important to confirm that the birth information was correctly registered, but it is also easier to correct errors within the first year. Typographical errors can be fixed by the birthing facility without any fees. Parents may also request a one-time name change within the first year with a notarized birth correction affidavit.
After the first year, the amendment process gets more complicated and expensive. In addition to the usual forms, parents must pay the $35 amendment fee and provide evidence documentation or, in some cases, a court order.
For questions about amending vital records, contact the Amendments Unit at CHS.Amendments@oha.oregon.gov. For questions about ordering birth records, visit the Oregon Vital Records website.
Are You Getting Your Birth Records in on Time?
Oregon law, ORS 432.088 (1), requires every birth record be submitted to the Center for Health Statistics (CHS) for registration within five calendar days of the date of birth. The birth record is considered submitted or filed at the state when you certify the birth record in OVERS.
Why is timeliness important?
In addition to compliance with the law, timely filing is important because parents cannot receive a certified copy of their child’s birth record until it is officially registered with CHS. A birth certificate is needed by the parents for many legal purposes, such as applications for medical insurance or the ability to travel out of the country with the child. Timely filing ensures that parents can get these copies without worry or wait. It also makes for a shorter wait-time for the child’s Social Security card to be sent to the parents. Making sure the record is certified in a timely manner allows CHS to match an Acknowledgment of Paternity (AOP) to a birth record so the father can be added and the record registered, though birth records with an AOP do not currently need to be prioritized for entry.
How is timeliness measured?
The following table shows the total number of births for 2024 and the average number of days it took to certify a birth by county and facility. It also shows the percentage of births that were certified within five days. The monthly Birth Facility Performance Report also includes this information and is sent to Birth Information Specialist (BIS) managers.
 You can see from the table that some facilities are doing a great job getting births certified within five days, and many are at 90% or better. However, there are others that could improve in meeting timeliness requirements.
Tips for meeting five-day filing requirement
The following are some tips from facilities about how to meet the five-day requirement:
- Keep your facility administration informed on your compliance with legislatively required timelines and help identify barriers to meeting the law such as insufficient staff time or lack of coverage during absences.
- Provide the birth parent worksheet during birthing tours.
- Encourage maternity care coordinators to provide the parent worksheet to families in advance.
- Encourage nurses to review the worksheet for completeness before parents are discharged.
- Add the birth parent worksheet to the pre-admission process.
If you have any questions about meeting the timeliness requirement to enter birth records, contact CHS.PartnerServices@oha.oregon.gov.
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