Article 1. Duty Of Registering Live Birth of California Health And Safety Code >> Division 102. >> Part 1. >> Chapter 3. >> Article 1.

Each live birth shall be registered with the local registrar of births and deaths for the district in which the birth occurred within 10 days following the date of the event.

For live births that occur in a hospital, or a state-licensed alternative birth center, as defined in paragraph (4) of subdivision (b) of Section 1204, the administrator of the hospital or center or a representative designated by the administrator in writing may sign the birth certificate certifying the fact of birth instead of the attending physician and surgeon, certified nurse midwife, or principal attendant if the physician and surgeon, certified nurse midwife, or principal attendant is not available to sign the certificate; and shall be responsible for registering the certificate with the local registrar within the time specified in Section 102400.

For those live births occurring in a hospital, and upon a parent's request, a footprint shall be taken of the child prior to discharge from the facility and shall be made available to the parents. The footprint shall be placed on a sheet of paper that is separate from the birth certificate, shall only be prepared for the parents prior to discharge from the hospital, and need not be retained or kept on file.

For live births that occur outside of a hospital or outside of a state-licensed alternative birth center, as defined in paragraph (4) of subdivision (b) of Section 1204, the physician in attendance at the birth or, in the absence of a physician, the professionally licensed midwife in attendance at the birth or, in the absence of a physician or midwife, either one of the parents shall be responsible for entering the information on the certificate, securing the required signatures, and for registering the certificate with the local registrar.