Reconceiving the field: Infant mental health, intersectionality, and reproductive justice.

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe field of infant mental health is conventionally comprised of professional discourses including developmental science, psychology, and psychiatry, among others, and involves spheres of practice as wide‐ranging as pediatrics, maternal/child health, early intervention, early care and education, and child welfare. The World Association of Infant Mental Health [WAIMH] put out its position paper on the rights of infants in 2014 (amended in March 2016) in recognition of the human rights implications of professional understanding of infants’ unique, yet universal, developmental capacities and needs. This article links the policy issues outlined in the WAIMH position paper with critical issues in the field of reproductive justice, extending the reach of WAIMH's call to action on behalf of infants’ rights, and pointing the way toward potent alliances among interconnected movements. Connecting the dots among economic injustice, race‐based health disparities, and gender inequities, the article demonstrates that it is not possible to safeguard infant mental health unless we make reproductive justice a reality.