For decades, women’s health has been surrounded by subjects that were considered too personal or too uncomfortable to talk about. Periods were something to hide, whilst menopause was something to suffer through quietly. Today, some of the most impactful women’s health PR campaigns are helping to bring these conversations into the mainstream, challenging stigma and encouraging people to seek information, support and treatment.
Across reproductive health, pregnancy, menopause, hormonal health, chronic conditions and mental wellbeing, brands and organisations are finding new ways to make women’s experiences impossible to ignore.
With women’s health issues now being on everyone’s public agenda, here are 6 women’s health PR campaigns that really changed the name of the game, portraying how much awareness can be raised around a topic when creativity and purpose come together as one.
6 Standout women’s health PR campaigns to take notice of:
1. Bodyform: #WombStories (2020)
Reproductive & menstrual health
Launched in 2020, Bodyform: #WombStories campaign introduced a different way of talking about women’s reproductive health. It was illustrated in a way to challenge the polished way women’s health is often portrayed. Its animated film showed the more complicated and emotional realities of having a womb, giving audiences something very different from traditional period advertising.
Women were also encouraged to share their own experiences, helping turn the campaign into a wider and more personal conversation about reproductive health. The campaign really targeted the difficulties to womanhood that society often shuns, as it highlights how strong health PR can give people a voice while challenging the stigma around experiences that are often kept private. In the end, authentic stories can make complex health issues feel personal and relatable, helping women recognise when period pain is being dismissed as “dramatic” and when seemingly minor symptoms could point to an underlying health condition. This is what makes good PR so powerful: it can raise awareness, challenge misconceptions and ultimately help people better understand and advocate for their health.
2. Mothercare: Body Proud Mums (2019)
Pregnancy, maternal and postnatal health
Back in 2019, Mothercare’s Body Proud Mums campaign focused on a drastic stage of womanhood that is still highly underrepresented. The physical changes that come with pregnancy and childbirth can be a source of anxiety for many women, yet they are rarely shown honestly. This was exactly what Mothercare’s Body Proud Mums campaign set out to highlight, helping to make these changes a more normal part of the conversation around motherhood.
Ten real mothers were photographed with their babies, showing stretch marks, scars and other changes without any retouching. The images appeared across London’s transport network and on social media, challenging the pressure placed on women to quickly return to their pre-pregnancy bodies. Research behind the campaign found that more than half of UK mums were unhappy with their post-baby bodies, while 80% of mothers surveyed said they compared themselves with celebrities.
The campaign also sparked a response beyond Mothercare’s own advertising. Mothers began sharing their own postpartum images and experiences under #BodyProudMums. For the future of media and PR, campaign ideas such as these highlight how honest representation can make women feel less alone and challenge the unrealistic expectations often placed on new mothers.
3. Hertility: Ooh, Someone’s Hormonal (2022)
Hormonal health
Hertility’s 2022 ‘Ooh, Someone’s Hormonal’ campaign took a phrase that women have heard countless times and turned it on its head. Instead of treating being “hormonal” as something negative, the campaign asked people to think differently about the role hormones play in women’s health.
The film called out the way women’s symptoms are often dismissed, from painful or irregular periods to fertility concerns. It took a phrase that has long been used to dismiss and shame women and turned it into a relatable narrative that many women can recognise themselves in.
It also highlighted the wider lack of understanding around female hormones and the gender gap in medical research. The response was strong too. Hertility reported that sales of its hormone and fertility testing kits doubled overnight, while the campaign generated 660,000 organic impressions in its first week. Changing the way we talk about hormones can help challenge the assumptions that have allowed women’s symptoms to be dismissed for so long.
4. Intimina: The Wait (2021)
Life with chronic disease or long-term condition
When it comes to endometriosis, getting a diagnosis can be a long and frustrating process. Intimina’s The Wait campaign put that experience at the centre of its messaging, highlighting the fact that it takes an average of eight years to receive an endometriosis diagnosis.
The campaign made that statistic difficult to ignore. Eight-year-old girls featured in the film, using the words of women who had spent years trying to get answers for their symptoms. The idea of an eight-year-old being alive for the same amount of time that many women can spend waiting to be taken seriously. It really puts these situations into perspective and shows just how easy it is for society to overlook or misunderstand what women are actually going through.
That human approach helped the campaign cut through. It generated more than 200 pieces of global coverage and over 250,000 organic views, while bringing attention to the pain and frustration that can come with living with an undiagnosed condition. Therefore, turning a statistic into something people can actually picture can make a long-term health condition much harder to ignore.
5. Boots and Macmillan: Journeys Through Cancer and Menopause (2024)
Menopause and healthy ageing
For many women, menopause is already a difficult subject to navigate. For those going through it as a result of cancer treatment, the experience can be even more complicated. That was the focus of Boots and Macmillan’s Journeys Through Cancer and Menopause campaign.
Cancer treatment can bring on early menopause, yet it is an experience that often goes under the radar. In the UK, around 60,000 women under 50 with cancer are estimated to be struggling with hormone-related side effects such as early menopause. For Boots and Macmillan, this was an important gap to address. Menopause itself is becoming much easier to talk about, but the reality of going through it because of cancer treatment is still far less understood. The campaign brought those experiences forward to raise awareness of possibilities to interfere with a woman’s early ageing.
Sometimes the most important conversations are the ones sitting just outside the mainstream media. Bringing overlooked experiences into the spotlight can help people feel understood and, more importantly, encourage them to seek the support they need.
6. NCT: #HiddenHalf (2017)
Mental health
NCT launched its #HiddenHalf campaign back in 2017 after finding that around 1 in 10 women develop a mental health problem during pregnancy or within the first year after having a baby. Despite this, many women were struggling without their symptoms being recognised or getting the support they needed. What made the campaign stand out was how it brought something that can easily be hidden behind the excitement of having a baby into the open. NCT used real stories and research to show that becoming a mother does not always come with the picture-perfect experience people expect.
The campaign also went beyond raising awareness. It called for a six-week postnatal check-up where mothers could discuss both their physical and mental health with a GP. The campaign gained support from thousands of people and helped push maternal mental health higher up the healthcare agenda. Bringing an issue into the open is the first step towards getting people to take it seriously.
The campaigns above demonstrate what can happen when brands are brave enough to talk about the parts of women’s health that are often misunderstood or brushed aside. There is a real opportunity here for brands to make women feel less alone in experiences that can be difficult or even frightening because there is no clear direction for these womanhood experiences. Even if a campaign only reaches a handful of people, it can still make a real difference. Someone may recognise themselves in the information, and realise that what they had been told was “dramatic” or simply part of being a woman could actually be an undiagnosed health condition. For brands, that is where the real value lies. Good women’s health PR should leave people feeling seen, heard and a little more confident about speaking up.
More from us
At PHA, we’ve seen first-hand how powerful communications can be in helping people better understand their health. Whether it’s increasing awareness of a condition, supporting the launch of an innovative product, or giving underrepresented experiences a platform, the right campaign can transform complex health topics into conversations that people genuinely engage with.
The women’s health PR campaigns above demonstrate what can happen when brands are brave enough to talk about the parts of women’s health that are often misunderstood or brushed aside.
As a women’s health PR agency, we work with brands, healthtech innovators, charities and healthcare organisations across a range of specialisms, from fertility and femtech to menopause, maternal health and hormonal wellbeing. Our focus is on combining credible evidence, lived experience and compelling storytelling to create campaigns that inform, educate and inspire action.
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If you’re looking to build your brand in women’s health, raise awareness around an important issue or find a more meaningful way to reach your audience, we’d love to hear from you.
As an award-winning PR and integrated communications agency, we work with brands to create campaigns that earn attention, spark conversation, and deliver results. Get in touch with our team at hello@thephagroup.com to discuss your goals.