Between the Flowers and Chocolates: The Messages UK Mothers Are Sending About Their Health

On Sunday, the UK marked Mother’s Day, and my social feeds were packed with posts – flowers, handmade cards, perfectly plated meals, and, of course, a wave of ads pushing pricey gifts. The marketing wasn’t just from health and wellness brands, though “self-care” was a big theme. It was a full-on sales pitch from all corners, urging people to show appreciation in a way that often feels more commercial than meaningful. But here’s the thing – women don’t just think about their health and self-care being once a year. They’re asking questions, raising concerns and navigating challenges every day. And yet, outside of these big marketing moments, their voices too often go unheard.

At Real Chemistry, my insights work is focused on listening to the voices of patients across the world, bridging the gap between audiences and brands with data-driven strategy. Our team collects and analyses data from diverse sources, all to understand audience behaviors, preferences and needs.

Using our team’s panoramic approach to social listening, our recent research into Mother’s Day conversations revealed a deeper, more pressing conversation happening among UK mothers. While they receive and cherish tokens of appreciation, what they truly need is time, care – and most importantly – support for their health. Yet, we uncovered a striking reality: mothers consistently deprioritize their own well-being, often discussing the health of their family members 11 times more than their own. This is not just a passing trend; it’s a crisis in women’s health that demands urgent attention.

What Mothers Are (and Aren’t) Saying About Their Health

Using panoramic social listening, which captures not just text but also images, videos, and audio content from digital channels, we examined how UK mothers discuss health online. The findings were eye-opening:

• Preventative health is almost absent. When women discuss their own health, only 2% of these conversations mention on proactive health and wellness. Instead, most health discussions arise in moments of crisis.
• Mental health concerns are dominant and mentioned more than any physical health concern. Anxiety, depression, and OCD were among the top health issues mentioned.
• Mothers mask their emotions. While written posts often maintain a hopeful or humorous tone, our AI-powered image and video analysis revealed deeper emotions like sadness, fear, and vulnerability.

Why This Matters, and What Needs to Change

The reality is that UK mothers are struggling, often silently. The expectation to “hold it all together” prevents many from prioritizing their own well-being. Meanwhile, traditional social listening – focused solely on text-based analysis – fails to capture the full picture of what mothers are experiencing.

This is where panoramic social listening makes a difference. By analyzing multimedia content, we gain a richer, more nuanced understanding of what mothers are truly facing, even when they don’t say it outright. Their faces tell a story. Their videos reveal struggles they might not type out. If we only listen to words, we miss half the conversation.

Moving Beyond One Day of Recognition

Mother’s Day is a moment to celebrate, but it should also be a wake-up call. It’s time for brands, healthcare leaders and policymakers to move beyond marketing campaigns and start addressing the real needs of mothers. Supporting maternal health – mentally and physically – shouldn’t be a once-a-year conversation.

The data is clear: mothers need help prioritizing their health. They need mental health resources that aren’t just reactive but proactive. They need a healthcare system that acknowledges their tendency to put others first and works to make self-care more accessible.

As an audience researcher, a woman and an advocate for better women’s health, I urge those in power to pay attention to the deeper stories our research has uncovered. The technology exists to understand what’s really on mothers’ minds. Now, it’s time to act on it.

Rachel Gervais is a UK-based Director in Real Chemistry’s Integrated Intelligence team, the company’s Analytics and Insights capability area. She uses a broad range of research methodologies, including cutting edge social listening and digital analytics, to understand how healthcare experiences and needs differ across people and places.