Baby Week 2026
Closing the Gap
Celebrating 10 Years of Improving Me
16 to 22 November 2026
Baby Week is back for 2026, and this year is extra special as we celebrate 10 years of Improving Me and our seventh annual Baby Week.
Over the years, Baby Week has brought together families, communities, professionals, volunteers, and organisations from across the world to Cheshire and Merseyside to champion the health and wellbeing of women, babies and families.
From family activities and community events to conversations that inspire change, Baby Week has become a powerful platform for learning, sharing and celebrating.
Why Baby Week Matters
The story of Baby Week begins more than 100 years ago. The first national Baby Week was held in 1917, during the First World War, at a time when the health and wellbeing of babies and families had become a national concern.
A century later, Baby Week was reborn in Cheshire and Merseyside during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the circumstances were different, both periods highlighted an important truth: when society faces challenges, inequalities become more visible, and those who care for others often carry the greatest burden.
The pandemic also shone a spotlight on another challenge that continues to affect lives today: the gender health gap. This refers to the differences in health outcomes, experiences and access to healthcare between men and women, often resulting in women being overlooked, misdiagnosed or facing delays in treatment.
Closing the gender health gap means better research, fairer treatment, earlier diagnoses and healthier futures for everyone. Women's health is not a niche issue. It impacts families, communities and future generations.
Pregnancy, birth, postnatal mental health, pelvic health, reproductive health and menopause are fundamental health issues. When women's health is prioritised, babies thrive, families flourish and communities become stronger.
Closing the Gap Together
As we celebrate a decade of Improving Me, Baby Week 2026 is an opportunity to reflect on how far we have come and the work still to do.
This year's theme, Closing the Gap, encourages us all to listen to women and families, recognise health inequalities and support healthcare systems that put prevention, wellbeing and equity at their heart.
Together, we can help create a future where every woman, baby and family has the opportunity to achieve the best possible health outcomes.
Join the Celebration
We're inviting families, community groups, schools, charities, healthcare organisations, businesses and local partners to get involved in Baby Week 2026.
Whether you're attending an event, hosting an activity, sharing resources, supporting families or helping spread the word, every contribution helps make a difference.
Join us as we celebrate 10 years of Improving Me, champion women's health, and work together to close the gap for future generations.
Get Involved
Contact the Baby Week team:
Email: wham.engagement@cheshireandmerseyside.nhs.uk
Who gets to Define Motherhood? In Conversation with Elinor Cleghorn
Improving Me, NHS Cheshire and Merseyside women’s health and maternity programme and Liverpool Library Service are delighted to present Elinor Cleghorn in conversation at Liverpool Central Library on Thursday 19th November 2026 from 5.30pm - 7.30pm in the Discover Room.
Liverpool is delighted to welcome back the acclaimed feminist cultural historian Elinor Cleghorn for an evening of conversation, history and radical rethinking.
In her latest book, A Woman’s Work, Elinor Cleghorn uncovers the radical history of mothering and asks what happens when society treats women’s bodies as public property.
From the politics of falling birth rates to the enduring pressures of pronatalism, this is a conversation about who controls motherhood, whose work is valued, and whose voices have been written out of history.
Elinor brings mothers, othermothers, midwives, activists and community leaders back to the centre of the story — reclaiming the acts of growing, birthing, nurturing and loving as skilled, powerful and profoundly important work.
And we couldn’t possibly let her leave without returning to the book that started so many conversations about women’s health-Unwell Women.
In Unwell Women, Elinor exposed centuries of medical myths, dismissed pain and the ways women’s experiences have been misunderstood and overlooked by healthcare systems. Together, these two books invite us to ask some uncomfortable — and urgent — questions about women’s bodies, health, motherhood and power.
Come for the history. Stay for the conversation.
As we celebrate a decade of Improving Me, Baby Week 2026 is an opportunity to reflect on how far we have come and the work still to do. This year's theme, Closing the Gap, encourages us all to listen to women and families, recognise health inequalities and support healthcare systems that put prevention, wellbeing and equity at their heart.
To book a free ticket for November 19 just go to Eventbrite Light refreshments available at 5.30pm. The conversation starts at 6.00pm
For more information why not contact the Baby Week team: wham.engagement@cheshireandmerseyside.nhs.uk or Email: jo@jowardchangemaker.org.uk M:07708428096
Saturday Celebration 21 Nov 2026 Updated 18 Oc
To mark Baby Week and Improving Me’s 10th anniversary we are delighted to share a new resource developed through Improving Me’s perinatal creative health partnership and best start programme: Baby Week 21 Nov 26 Updated LMN Resources Bitly And QR Codes