ICON WEEK 2026

Caring for a newborn baby is hard, but the right support could make all the difference.

At the centre of reproductive justice sits a central freedom: the choice whether to or not to have a child that should be yours to make. But what happens after this decision has been taken and the baby arrives?

As well as abortion access, reproductive justice entitles everyone to an environment where it is safe to have, raise, and care for a child. Among other things, this requires a strong postnatal support system, particularly during the first few months of a baby’s life.

ICON Week 2026

Between the perpetual crying and sleepless nights, caring for a newborn is no mean feat. Immediately after delivery, birthing partners will experience dramatic changes in their hormone levels, which, coupled with their baby’s evergrowing list of needs, can make it feel all-consuming.

Founded in 2018 by nurse and health visitor, Dr Suzanne Smith, ICON is a national charity working to ensure parents receive consistent, evidence-based information and guidance at the point of need. It is thought educating caregivers on how to cope with a baby’s crying and to spot when it is something more serious could lead to a significant reduction in the number of shaken infants across the UK.

Monday 21 September marks the beginning of ICON Week 2026, a public initiative aimed at increasing awareness around infant crying, support for parents and carers, and the prevention of Abusive Head Trauma (AHT) in babies. Now in its sixth year, the focus of this week’s campaign is on furthering ICON’s engagement with non-birthing partners, while continuing to make sure all families are being offered the same quality of resources and support, regardless of where they live.

In a press release published by the charity, Dr Smith said: “Persistent infant crying can be stressful and exhausting for any parent or carer. 

“ICON Week is about reassuring families that they are not alone, helping them understand that crying is a normal part of infant development, and reminding them that support is available.”

Sarah’s story

Alongside being a mother to two small children, Sarah Yung, Collective Coordinator at RRAC, works as a delivery and Implementation Coordinator for the White Ribbon Alliance, a UK-based organisation focussed on transforming reproductive healthcare through the elimination of gender-based violence. 

Sarah gave birth to her first child in 2021 and is all too familiar with the bleary-eyed chaos that is caring for a newborn. Her eldest son suffered from colic as a baby and could be known to cry from around three in the afternoon until midnight, without stopping.

“If I got a little bit overwhelmed and he wasn’t settling, I had the opportunity to pass him between my mum and dad, so we did that as a way of coping,” recalls Sarah. “But obviously some people don’t have the space or the extra manpower to do that.”

A first-time parent, Sarah was struck by the tsunami of information and advice available online, much of it conflicting. She came to the conclusion that it’s important to do what feels right for you, whether that’s stepping away to make a cup of tea or simply sticking your headphones in.

While Sarah is unable to fault her local maternity unit in Ormskirk, she believes the support offered to her following the birth of her baby was severely lacking. “They give you little leaflets, but everything causes you to panic - your anxiety is through the roof,” she adds.

A mother of two, Sarah describes her anxiety as being "through the roof after the birth of her first child. (Credit:Sarah Yung)

After delivery, new parents will be assigned a named health visitor, whose responsibility it is to support the family and identify any potential safeguarding risks. 

However, in certain circumstances, a health visitor may delegate one of their five health and development reviews to another suitably qualified health professional or nursery nurse. This can lead to inconsistencies in postpartum care and impact the family’s relationship with their health visitor.

In Sarah’s experience, the care provided by her health visitor was both sporadic and impersonal, with questions often confined to a general: “How are you?”

Looking back on the birth of her first child, Sarah has no doubt she was suffering from postpartum anxiety, which she might have received medication for, had it been identified and explored by her health visitor at the time.

An independent review of maternity services at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust suggests that Sarah’s experience is just one of many, with several women reporting that they, too, felt unsupported during the postnatal period, hindering their recovery process.

Sarah is keen to note that these difficulties will be exacerbated for ethnic minority groups, who, according to a study published by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) in May 2026, experience significantly higher rates of pregnancy complications than White birthing partners. 

Out of a sample of around 500,000 maternities, 33% of Black women and 31% of Asian women underwent an emergency caesarean delivery, compared with just 22% of White women. The physical and psychological trauma associated with these sorts of complications will naturally go on to compound the mother’s need for consistent, specialised postpartum care.

The same goes for neurodivergent parents, for whom the postpartum period often brings its own, unique set of challenges, including sensory overload or difficulties communicating with the people making decisions about their care.

Could it be made easier?

In Sarah’s view, postpartum care could be vastly improved by offering parents support that is empathetic to their family situation. Whether parents receive this level of care should not be determined by a postcode lottery, but represent the general standard.

Sarah explains: “If the health visitor got to know the parent better, then they could offer more individual advice.”

Elsewhere, the financial - and geographical - inaccessibility of baby and toddler groups will inevitably be leading to a heightened sense of isolation and overwhelm for parents attempting to navigate life with a newborn. In 2023, a survey conducted by the Early Years Alliance (EYA) found that 76 per cent of baby and toddler groups had experienced rising costs in the previous year, leaving one in five groups unable to cover everything themselves.

For Sarah, though, a burden shared is a burden halved, and birthing partners will continue to struggle until adequate paternity leave is required by law.

As it stands, non-birthing partners are entitled to just one or two weeks of paid paternity leave in England. This number feels particularly galling when compared with our Nordic neighbours in Iceland, where both parents are offered an independent, non-transferable six-month entitlement. 

“I would say the biggest thing you could do is decent paternity leave,” confirms Sarah. “Because all of it becomes so much worse when it’s on one person’s head.” 

Here at RRAC, we believe that parenting should be a choice, unimpeded by external realities such as social stigma or, indeed, poor maternity care. Inadequate postpartum support infringes upon a person’s right to make this choice freely and, until it is addressed, reproductive justice will remain out of reach.

To find out more about ICON Week 2026 and how you can get involved, click here.