SINGAPORE - A new series of workshops fronted by the People's Association - and organised by women for women - will begin in May.

Titled "A Better Me", the workshops will target pregnant women and working mothers with young children. The topics to be covered include women's and family's health and work-life balance.

Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources and Health Amy Khor announced this on Sunday (March 31) at this year's International Women's Day conference.

"Many women continue to grapple with whether they should devote more time to care for their family instead, and juggle their many roles as wife, mother, daughter, employee or employer, and caregiver," Dr Khor said.

"But the irony is that often these women juggling multiple roles have little to no time to take charge of their own health," she added,

Hence, this workshop series will help give women the skills and knowledge they need to take charge of their health and also their family's, as well as tips on how to maintain a healthy work-life balance.

This is the first time that the People's Association Women's Integration Network Council (WIN Council) is collaborating with the Association of Women Doctors (Singapore) and the Empowered Women Entrepreneurs association to build a network of community support and address women's needs, by working with women's organisations.

Speaking at the conference too, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Grace Fu encouraged more of such collaborations by these women's groups.

"There are women's groups out there that support working women with different needs. We need to bring them closer to the community so that more women can benefit," Ms Fu said.

Dr Khor, who said it was the first time that these women's groups were working together, added that there is strong synergy in tapping their expertise to address the different needs of working women and to facilitate outreach to the ground.

She added that with this series, more women can get first-hand personal sharing, from speakers at the workshops.

The workshops run by the Association of Women Doctors will cover nutrition, mental health, cardiopulmonary resuscitation and emergency assistance techniques, as well as bone, eye and dental health for women and children.

Meanwhile, as part of the workshops run by Empowered Women Entrepreneurs, there will be lessons on work-life balance, parenting styles, breastfeeding issues and communicating with children.

Up to 1,000 women will be able to attend these talks, which will be held at Women's Executive Committees across the island. They are encouraged to meet, connect and keep in touch with one another, as well as form their own support groups.

"The participants can then continue to organise talks and activities, as well as meet regularly to share experiences, learn from speakers, and one another," said Dr Khor.

Conference participants told ST that they were excited about the upcoming talks, and for the opportunity to meet other like-minded women.

Ms Low Yuin Ling, 50, a chef turned financial consultant, hopes to share her culinary know-how with working families or young families.

"We don't have to be master chefs, but we can teach them basic skills, like how to cook a traditional Chinese meal of 'three dishes, one soup'," Ms Low said.