Positive Steps

Client: British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy

One in five new mums develops mental health issues during pregnancy or in the year after birth. Heartbreakingly, this is a leading cause of maternal death. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Research shows that talking therapies can significantly reduce the symptoms of mental health conditions.

Positive Steps aimed to increase the number of new mums who would consider therapy. But new mums are a tricky audience for communications. We knew that the increased cognitive load and perinatal mental health challenges they can experience would make it difficult for them to take campaign information onboard. For new mums to hear the message that therapy could change their lives, we needed to deliver it in an accessible way. We needed to meet them where they were. Our research led to a breakthrough insight: mums spend hours pounding pavements with their prams. So, we turned pathways on a popular pram walking route into a striking outdoor gallery of real women’s therapy experiences. 12 women shared their deeply personal stories - alongside the story of podcaster and wellbeing writer Izzy Judd - which resulted in outstanding coverage from BBC TV to a full page in the Daily Express. Furthermore, we negotiated a partnership with The Mum Club who presented the campaign to its 70 franchisees and shared information with 80,000 members. Most importantly, Positive Steps met its objective of boosting consideration of therapy, leading to a 33% rise in new mums saying they’d explore therapy if they felt they needed support.