Public Health Snapshot

The Current Landscape

Robeson County, positioned within North Carolina's rural border region, presents a severe compounding-disadvantage profile across maternal and child health indicators. While anchored by a local hospital system, expecting families still face a late or no prenatal care rate of roughly 18.1% and a local child uninsurance rate of 4.9%. Furthermore, systemic challenges in maternal care result in an infant mortality rate of 10 deaths per 1,000 live births, remaining distressingly higher than state and national averages.

Unlike areas entirely devoid of medical infrastructure, Robeson County experiences deep socioeconomic hardship combined with a severely overextended local provider workforce. Acute physical health burdens—such as high rates of chronic disease and poverty rates reaching 31.5%—create an environment where limited rural health resources land with disproportionate force on growing families.