Reimagining Perinatal Mental Health: An Expansive Vision For Structural Change

Diagnoses of depression, anxiety, or other mental illness capture just one aspect of the psychosocial elements of the perinatal period. Perinatal loss; trauma; unstable, unsafe, or inhumane work environments; structural racism and gendered oppression in health care and society; and the lack of a soc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Health affairs (Millwood, Va.) Va.), 2021-10, Vol.40 (10), p.1592-1
Main Authors: Foster, Vu-An, Harrison, Jessica M, Williams, Caitlin R, Asiodu, Ifeyinwa V, Ayala, Sequoia, Getrouw-Moore, Jasmine, Davis, Nastassia K, Davis, Wendy, Mahdi, Inas K, Nedhari, Aza, Niles, P Mimi, Peprah, Sayida, Perritt, Jamila B, McLemore, Monica R, Jackson, Fleda Mask
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aggression
Anxiety
Child care
Child poverty
Focus groups
Health care
Health services
Human rights
Interdisciplinary aspects
Mental depression
Mental disorders
Mental health
Mental health care
Minority & ethnic groups
Miscarriage
Oppression
Perinatal period
Policy making
Post traumatic stress disorder
Postpartum period
Poverty
Pregnancy
Progressivism
Psychological trauma
Psychosocial factors
Racism
Structural change
Systemic racism
Teams
Trauma
Unsafe
Well being
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Description
Summary:Diagnoses of depression, anxiety, or other mental illness capture just one aspect of the psychosocial elements of the perinatal period. Perinatal loss; trauma; unstable, unsafe, or inhumane work environments; structural racism and gendered oppression in health care and society; and the lack of a social safety net threaten the overall wellbeing of birthing people, their families, and communities. Developing relevant policies for perinatal mental health thus requires attending to the intersecting effects of racism, poverty, lack of child care, inadequate postpartum support, and other structural violence on health. To fully understand and address this issue, we use a human rights framework to articulate how and why policy makers must take progressive action toward this goal. This commentary, written by an interdisciplinary and intergenerational team, employs personal and professional expertise to disrupt underlying assumptions about psychosocial aspects of the perinatal experience and reimagines a new way forward to facilitate wellbeing in the perinatal period.
ISSN:0278-2715
1544-5208
DOI:10.1377/hlthaff.2021.00805