One in five moms experience postpartum mental health symptoms,
according to the Centers for Disease Control, with maternal mental health conditions being the top cause of pregnancy-related deaths.
And, notes the Ad Council, three in four such conditions
go untreated “in large part due to stigma.”
So the Council today launched “The Secret to Motherhood,” the latest component in its mammoth multiyear “Love, Your Mind” mental health initiative.
Campaign content stresses
that when new and expecting moms prioritize their mental health, they can better cope with the challenges of caring for both themselves and their little ones.
In one spot, a coping mom suggests “a really consistent morning routine, remembering to slow down and breathe, open communication, making time
for myself, leaning on my support system, and – a really big one – always trusting my instincts.”
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But the “real secret,” she reveals, “is to remember to
enjoy every single second…There is no secret to motherhood. There are only secrets we're keeping about it.”
For Bianca Guimaraes, founding partner and executive creative director
of Mischief USA, the agency behind the campaign, the work was personal.
"I experienced postpartum depression after both of my pregnancies,” she revealed in a press release, stating that
the campaign is about “the thoughts we hide because they don’t sound like what a new mother is supposed to feel. I loved my children deeply. I was also struggling deeply. Both things can
be true."
The Ad Council says the campaign -- developed based on months of research with moms, as well as input from experts -- is designed to reach moms “in the earliest, most
vulnerable stages of motherhood.”
Though the timing of the campaign seems coincidental, it comes the wake of the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, which highlighted the issue of postpartum
maternal care.
In addition to video spots, the campaign includes out-of-home, radio and digital media content in both English and Spanish, with Datonics providing audience data support, WPP
Media providing media strategy and planning, and donated time and space from Amazon Ads, Fuse Media, iHeartMedia, Kargo, Pinterest, Reddit and others.
All content directs viewers to multiple
resources at LoveYourMind.com/moms or ConAmorTuMente.com/mama.
“The Secret to Motherhood”
was developed with support from the Arthur M Blank Family Foundation, Huntsman Mental Health Foundation, Merck for Mothers, Perigee Fund, and others.