A birth certificate is perhaps one of the most important and useful documents to have as an ID proof. Almost anywhere that you go, a birth certificate is very necessary. Perhaps you want to put your child in a pre school or need to put your child in any activities, it is most likely that you will be asked to provide a birth certificate.

How to obtain a birth certificate is one of the questions faced by most "to be" parents. Often when the first child is arriving, most parents need to start planning on how to obtain a birth certificate.

The easiest way to go about getting all the information is to perhaps ask your own parents. If you have moved to a new place and not able to get the required information from your parents, the next best thing would be to ask your friends or colleagues who already have children. They will advise your how to go about and obtain a birth certificate.

Plan this well in advance before your first baby arrives. It is also useful to know all the documents that are required to submit to the local muncipality to obtain a birth certificate. All the requisite paperwork is often provided by the hospital to make things easy for you.

A copy of the original birth certificate is also very necessary in case that you lose the original one that is provided. Sometimes, the local municipal bodies in charge of providing the birth certificates also provide a color copy of the original attested by them and certified true copy.

Nowadays birth certificates are all electronically stored  and filed with the local registrar. It can be accessed and viewed online at any time and is used by governments for keeping statistics of all births in an area. They provide a valuable demographic and historical information.

Ever tried to get your driving license? Most likely you will be asked to produce a birth certificate as a proof of your age. Also it is also used when you apply for your passport. Though passport is used widely as an identification proof, a birth certificate is most useful before you get a passport.