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Rural Race and Ethnicity

The Role of Faith Communities in Addressing Rural Black Maternal Health Inequities in North Carolina Wylin Wilson*, Wylin Wilson,

Given the disparities in maternal mortality, Black mothers have stood as symbols of crisis in the U.S. (Nash, 2021). Communal resources, such as faith communities have a role to play in addressing racial inequities within rural maternal health.  This paper applies a womanist bioethics framework to the issue of rural maternal health inequities within North Carolina. Central to such a framework is engaging communal resources such as Black Churches which have historically been involved in the promotion of community and individual health. Within this framework, womanism is significant because it provides constructive criticism of both church and society for the work of justice that is left undone on behalf of vulnerable populations. Thus, womanism challenges those churches who fail to support women’s rights with the ardor that they address other civil rights.

African American faith communities are a well suited resource to assist in addressing rural maternal health inequities for several reasons: African American congregations, the majority of whose congregants are Black women, have been actively engaging issues such as birth, chronic illnesses, and end of life concerns—usually relying on the emotional, spiritual, and material resources of congregants and church leaders. The relational proximity of Black Churches to underserved Black women suffering racial inequality and these faith communities’ expansive principle of social justice are also potential resources for addressing this issue. This paper will also explore these congregations playing a role in mitigating the reproduction of Black mothers as symbols of crisis.