This year marks nine years since Baby Week was launched in Leeds and the first English speaking country to implement Semana do Bebe; an early years initiative from Brazil in 2016. This year also marks the 10 year anniversary that founder Lucy Potter learnt about the initiative as part of Churchill travelling fellowship to Brazil in 2014. In July this year Lucy was invited with 3 other Churchill alumni fellows to London to report on the success and implementation of their research. Lucy presented a potted history which looked back on how Baby Week had evolved from it’s humble beginnings at Leeds Beckett University and how it has now become a major influencer helping 14 other cities adopt the model in the UK.
It was 10 years ago when Lucy was sat in an air conditioned classroom at ULBRA university in Canaos, a small city on the outskirts of Porto Alegre in south Brazil with paediatrician Carmen Nuddleman. It was many of the meetings organised by Susana Delgado – a senior lecturer from the speech and language department who had offered an itinerary of visiting various outreach programmes in favelas which Lucy had the privilege of documenting in the form of a blog capturing details that would otherwise be forgotten lucylines blog.
Carmen explained with great enthusiasm all about the event she was helping to organise that year; Semana do Bebe (then in its 16th year). Lucy learnt how it started in 2000 to initially help raise awareness around the importance of the critical early years – as at the time academics and practitioners did not believe this was being effectively reflected in policy. Over the years it had attracted national interest helping to increase child mortality and breastfeeding rates, and to create important links with indigenous communities. In 2010 UNICEF became an ambassador helping to increase participation to countries: Uruguay and Portugal. Lucy visited the Canela three months after giving a presentation on infant massage which was conducted at Little London children centre in Leeds, she was then invited back twice more once to Recife and again back to Canaos in 2017 following the implementation of Baby Week in the UK.
As a travelling fellow, the work carried out is based around visiting similar projects to your profession overseas and then to compare and reflect on practices at home. Lucy as a family outreach worker in inner city communities of Leeds realised that the UK did have coherent policies in early years, but felt that these warranted more tangible engagement in the local communities for families to get the benefit.
Returning to the UK Lucy began to write up her research into a report. The trip around states and Brazil had brought different learning angles, but ideas of implementing Leeds’s own Semana do Bebe; by celebrating maternity and early years services began to break through. Lucy spoke to people who were still part of early years and in July 2015 pitched the idea of doing a Baby Week to various heads of services, including the Integrated Care Board (ICB), Child Friendly Leeds, Children’s Centres, Infant Mental Health, Leeds Beckett University (at the time Leeds Met), and Home Start. It seemed the presentation resonated with a recent targeted approach early years initiative being implemented called The Best Start Plan (2016) with importance on the first critical 1001 days. This was suitable timing and opportunity for Baby Week to be a platform to promote the Best Start. With great thanks to the ICB who helped set up the first Baby Week by financially supporting the following 2 years.
Before it had happened Baby Week was being spoken about throughout the corridors of Merrion house, as if it already existed. It was clear this was to be a city wide program and would be mentioned within the Best Start Plan with strategic representation from Leeds Teaching Hospitals, Leeds Community Health Care. However, there was still with a great deal of pavement pounding to be done around the communities including the Children’s Centres. A small working group was created and the first Baby Week coordinated and led by Sadiya, attracted 100 professionals from cross sector services within the maternity, early years and families services.
Following the first two Baby Week events the Better Start Bradford team approached Leeds on putting their unique stamp thereby creating their own version of Baby Week, and shortly after that Cheshire and Merseyside also created their own Baby Week. Jo Ward from Cheshire and Merseyside drew attention the UK’s first national Baby Week which ran for one year in the early 20th Century and had focussed (amongst other relative issues of the time) the high infant mortality rate versus the backdrop on the first world war – 1917 ‘mobilsing mothers’
In 2018 Baby Week became a charity (1178324) which helped improve funding applications a provided status to help involve more services to coherently run with in kind contributions. In 2020 Sadiya Salim from Child Friendly Leeds began to increase the scope of Baby Week by utilising the Leeds Relational Practice team (a resource which helps create networks and share best practice among other national cities). They invited representatives from around the UK to share the idea of adapting Semana do Bebe to reflect their own practices and strengths. Following the pandemic Sadiya brought the idea to the table again virtually inviting Lucy to reflect on the initial idea. Along with this and a tool kit designed by Sadiya at Child Friendly Leeds now the initiative is growing and 12 other cities have been inspired and have realised their own Baby Week.
This year the Baby Week team have returned full circle to the Best Start which continues to raise awareness in the critical growth stages of an infant’s life. Leeds Baby Week is something to be proud of amongst the professionals in the city and over the years many area’s use Baby Week as an opportunity to launch an idea such as 50 things to before 5 App and the Baby Box initiative. Jobs have been created such as Errol Murray from Leeds Dads helping to peer support fathers navigating perinatal mental health. As Baby Week approaches its 9th year the critical growth stages are now as important than ever and help to continue to bring professional together to share best practice and help bring the right support to communities when they need it. We can’t wait to celebrate 10 years with you all in 2025!
