Dorothea Baird (20 May 1875 – 24 September 1933) was an English stage and film actress. Her first stage appearance was with the Oxford University Dramatic Society in February 1894, when she played Iris in The Tempest. She was seen there by Lewis Carroll. On 26 May, he took her to London to see Ellen Terry performing, and then took her backstage to meet Ellen Terry. This inspired her to become a professional actress where she met her future husband, H. B. Irving, with whom she appeared in a number of plays.
In 1913, she retired from the stage, due to a miscarriage, and involved herself in charitable causes, especially with infant welfare, and put her attention towards family at a London's health centre known as the St. Pancras School for Mothers, of which she was a board member for many years.
In 1917, Baird used her theatre and film experience to create the film “Motherhood”, with the help of Percy Nash, to try to help improve the living habits of mothers and infants and also to create political demands for social improvement.