As I read this month’s posts, I noticed how differently “care” is understood across contexts, from motherhood and mental health to communities living through conflict. The blogs below bring together these perspectives, offering snapshots of how people experience and make sense of care in everyday life and beyond. 

If something here captures your interest, it is well worth exploring the full posts, and the authors would welcome any thoughts you may wish to share in the comments!  

Mother’s Day 2026 

Mother’s Day, celebrated by some countries and areas on Sunday, May 10, is often marked by gestures of appreciation; but the posts below look beyond celebration, exploring how motherhood and women’s experiences are represented, understood, and sometimes overlooked in research and society. 

New Perspectives on Motherhood 

@Elizabeth Podnieks 

This post reflects on the growing field of Motherhood Studies and how mothers’ experiences are being taken more seriously. Moving beyond idealised images, it highlights how research and storytelling together can reshape how motherhood is understood, making space for more complex, honest, and diverse perspectives. Read more in the full post. 

Motherhood in New Worlds 

@Jessica Aliaga-Lavrijsen 

Looking at contemporary feminist speculative fiction, this post explores how imagination can open up new ways of thinking about motherhood. By moving beyond traditional, biologically defined roles, these narratives challenge assumptions about reproduction, care and family, and imagine alternative futures where motherhood takes many forms. Read the full post to discover more about this genre of literature and motherhood. 

These two blogs are part of the #Palgrave Macmillan Campaign for the Humanities – explore more great stories from this series and read an introduction to the campaign in @Felicity Plester's post.  

Women and Social Anxiety 

@Katie Masters 

This post offers a different way of thinking about social anxiety in women, suggesting that it cannot be understood without considering social and cultural expectations. Drawing on feminist perspectives and lived experience, it reframes anxiety not simply as an individual condition, but as something shaped by the environments women navigate.  

Read the full post to explore how to rethink women’s experiences and mental health.  

This blog is part of the #Social Science Matters Campaign – click through to explore more posts from this series.  

How Research Creates Impact 

@Dr. Alexander Woodman

This post looks beyond publication to reflect on what research actually does in the world. Tracing the impact of a study on bioethics in Saudi Arabia, the author reflects on how a systematic review, covering issues such as doctor–patient relationships, informed consent, and organ donation, has helped bring together a fragmented field.  

Since its publication, the paper has generated new research questions and collaborations, illustrating how impact often develops over time, and sometimes in unexpected ways. Find out more in the full post.  

To this day, my colleagues and I continue to receive emails requesting the use of the data collection tool.” 

Discover more blogs exploring the impact of research in the After the Paper Channel to find real stories of what happened after publication. 

Schoolchildren’s Mental Health in Wartime Ukraine 

@Olena Yelizarova @Svitlana Hozak 

Focusing on children’s mental health during the war in Ukraine, this post highlights the importance of listening, not just to data, but to parents and communities. It shows how support systems are shaped by access, trust, and lived experience, and why care must extend beyond the individual to a wider social context.  

The full post offers a closer look at how communities shape care in times of crisis. 

Across these blog posts, what comes through is the importance of paying closer attention to people’s experiences, and to the contexts that shape them. Reading them together offers a different way of thinking about care in its many forms. 

I hope you enjoy exploring the new ideas and research shared by our authors, and I look forward to reading your thoughts in the comments area below! 

Further readings: 

• April Highlights from Humanities and Social Sciences Communities 

• May Highlights from Health & Clinical and Life Sciences Research Communities  @Alice Taylor 

• May Highlights from the Mathematics, Physical & Applied Sciences Communities @Yijia Li