Pregnancy Centers and Catholic Social Teaching: My Conversion Narrative, Part 2

As discussed in my recently posted article on Catholic365, “Sacramentals and Evangelization: My Personal Conversion Narrative, Part I,” I was drawn to the faith through my scholarly interests in social justice, peace education, and social engagement. Through my outreach at the Padua Center in Toledo, I learned that the Catholic charity model not only aligns with my secular education but also markedly surpasses any charitable framework I had previously encountered because it combines immediate physical assistance with the systemic promotion of human dignity and social justice. The first ministry I chose after my conversion was volunteering at our local pregnancy center in southeast Michigan. As I became engaged in the pro-life issues of pregnancy centers, I remained struck by the urgency of emergency aid for parents and children, including free disposable diapers and wipes, as well as other items that support the health and sanitation needs of infants and children.

I learned that government programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Women, Infants, and Children program (WIC) address food scarcity, not diaper needs. WIC meets the nutritional needs of pregnant and postpartum women, infants, and children up to age five. SNAP covers a broader range of support for low-income individuals and families, but it does not include hygiene products, cleaning supplies, paper products, or other essential household items. Diapers can be purchased with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits; however, only 23 percent of families nationwide living below the Federal Poverty Level receive cash assistance through TANF. TANF provides funds for household expenses (rent and utilities) and basic needs; it does not provide enough money to buy an adequate number of diapers.

A counterargument to distributing disposable diapers is that providing cloth diapers would be more cost-effective in the long term. However, using cloth diapers requires regular access to a washing machine and laundry detergent, which is not the case for most of the women who frequent pregnancy centers. Consequently, in low-income areas, community resources, including pregnancy centers and blessing closets, often provide disposable diapers and wipes to ensure infants' and toddlers’ basic sanitation needs are met, thereby supporting healthy childcare.

According to data from The National Diaper Bank Network’s Diaper Check: Diaper Insecurity among U.S. Children and Families,[1] nearly one-half (40%) of U.S. families with young children cannot afford enough diapers to keep their infants or children clean, healthy, and dry, since babies and toddlers typically require at least 50 diaper changes per week or 200 per month. Newborns usually need a diaper change every 2-3 hours, which adds up to 8-12 changes per day. A newborn box of disposable diapers typically lasts 2-3 weeks. Babies and toddlers whose families experience diaper need are more likely to develop painful rashes and urinary tract infections. Therefore, clean diapers are a basic humanitarian need for every baby and toddler and require supplementation in low-income communities due to the association between the poverty rate and the rate of births to unwed mothers.

In addition to providing diapers and material goods, our program, like other community outreach organizations, addresses a vital aspect of generational poverty. Generational poverty occurs when families remain in poverty for two or more consecutive generations. This cycle is driven by systemic issues, including limited access to quality education, unstable employment, and discrimination. These systemic problems perpetuate health issues among families who are financially unable to provide adequate sanitation and care for infants and toddlers. When we help mothers understand the importance of their children’s basic needs through charitable assistance, we contribute to systemic change by emphasizing hygienic practices while supporting human dignity.

Catholic Social Teaching consists of seven main themes: (1) Life and Dignity of the Human Person (the foundation of social teaching principles); (2) Call to Family, Community, and Participation (the basis for the common good and the well-being of all humanity); (3) Rights and Responsibilities of Each Person (our duty to others, our families, and society as a whole); (4) Option for the Poor and Vulnerable (serving the poor and vulnerable as a service to Christ, prioritized by the Church [Mt 25:31-46, RSVCE]); (5) The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers (protecting the right to productive work, fair wages, union organization, private property, and economic resourcefulness); (6) Solidarity (working toward world peace and justice through love of our neighbor); and (7) Care for God’s Creation (Stewardship) (USCCB).[2]

Although all the principles of Catholic Social Teaching are inherent in helping the poor, marginalized, and oppressed (“the least of these,” Mt. 25:45), the main principles that affect our target population and align with the teachings of Jesus include, but are not limited to, the dignity of the human person, the prioritization of options for the poor and vulnerable, and our responsibility to work toward the common good and the well-being of all people (solidarity). The dignity of the human person should be recognized and cared for in our neighbors through acts of charity, as denoted in “The Parable of the Good Samaritan” (Luke 10:25-37) and “Jesus Talking with a Samaritan Woman” (John 4:1-42). Their humanity should also be honored, as denoted in “Favoritism Forbidden” (James 2:1-8). All people are born with the same dignity in the image of God; all of us share the responsibility to ensure that each person’s life is respected and valued for their inherent worth. By prioritizing children's emergency needs, we promote the common good and the well-being of the mothers and children we serve in the name of Christ Jesus.

[1] National Diaper Bank Network. The NDBN Diaper Check 2026: Diaper Insecurity among U.S. Children and Families, a collaboration with the Urban Institute, and the implementation of the Superbundle. https://nationaldiaperbanknetwork.org/the-ndbn-diaper-check-2026/, accessed August 17, 2026.
[2] United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Seven Themes of Catholic Social Teaching, Washington, D.C., 2025.