A WOMB room, baby yoga, Bollywood dancing and a drum circle were some of the attractions at the first ever Baby Day in Belfast yesterday.
With the sun shining, there was a notable abundance of buggies and strollers across the city yesterday as more than 70 events took place at more than 20 locations.
Baby Day was brought into the world by Replay Theatre Company and its artistic director Anna Newell said the concept was based on neuroscience research.
"What happens in the first three years of a child's life changes not only our behaviour in later years, but it actually changes how our brains are formed," she said.
She said the diverse programme of events were devised to be creative, practical, imaginative, lyrical, stimulating and soothing for babies.
Several events took place at Belfast City Hall, including baby massage, baby yoga and a baby fair - with one product on offer being a 'birth pool in a box', an inflatable pool for expectant parents brave enough to give the maternity ward a miss come their own 'baby day'.
A host of theatrical shows, a drum circle at City Hall, an 'exotic fruit orchestra' outside The MAC, films at the Beanbag Cinema on Donegall Street and the 'Little Bollywood' dance event at the Spectrum Centre on the Shankill were some of the most popular attractions.
There was also an Irish puppet show, Na Bopoga, at the Culturlann on the Falls Road and the opportunity for parents' and babies to get their photo taken in the Lord Mayor's chair at the City Hall.
City Hall also saw parents and babies going into 'the womb room', an audio-visual experience designed by video artist Conan McIvor using ante-natal sonograms of children's drawings.
The day was brought to a close with the premiere of a Belfast Lullaby, written by award-winning Belfast composer Neil Martin and sung by the Belfast Mamas and Papas.
