WASHINGTON, DC, July 12, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Dr. Ruth Watson Lubic, Founder and President Emerita, Family Health and Birth Center, and Founder & Program Executive, Developing Families Center (formerly General Director, Maternity Center Association, New York City) has been included in Marquis Who's Who. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
For 25 years (1970-1995) Dr. Ruth Lubic served as General Director of the eminent Maternity Center Association (MCA) founded by the Women's City Club of New York in 1917. The Association's approach to improving public health, specifically, maternal and child health, was by palpable demonstration projects in New York, the first under the tutelage of Frances Perkins. In her administration Dr. Lubic led MCA into the establishment of the first demonstration freestanding nurse-midwife directed birth center in the United States, the Childbearing Center. Legally sanctioned in 1975, with medical collaboration and hospital backup, it operated from the MCA Manhattan townhouse on East 92nd Street and Madison Avenue. Serving middle class families demanding a change from current hospital practices, it had 20 years of success and excellent outcomes finally relocating the CbC to and under the aegis of St. Vincent's Hospital in Greenwich Village.
In recalling her student experiences at Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn, Dr. Lubic rejected the then not uncommon stereotype of the low-income mothers being consistently at high risk. In a pioneering effort and financed by the MCA, she established in 1988 a second freestanding birth center in the disadvantaged southwest Bronx which in 1992 was presented to and then operated by the Morris Heights Health Center. In addition to achieving improved medical statistics, the social, familial, and community impact of the care provided Hispanics and Afro-Americans was extraordinary. A prize winning video, "Hope Reborn: Empowering Families in the South Bronx" (1994), highlighted women who gave birth and then became empowered to change their family life and communities through advocacy and involvement in their children's education and healthcare. On its 20th birthday Dr. Lubic was commended for her creative role in establishing and advancing the program. These demonstrations through the years served as prototypes for the more than 350 freestanding birth centers now operating in this country. Collaterally, Dr. Lubic was co-founder and first president of the American Association of Birth Centers, which has responsibly impacted this new development with safe practices, including The Commission for Accreditation.
Dr. Lubic's successes brought her to the attention of the MacArthur Foundation receiving its so called "genius" award in 1993, the first ever to a nurse. Washington then came to her mind with its worst maternal and infant outcomes in the United States. Dr. Lubic could then consider replicating the CbC concept. She ultimately resigned as General Director, exploring DC, and began a distant commute from home and family. An earlier study tour of France has alerted her to the value of childcare as part of its system of Protection Maternelle et Infanile, emphasizing "THE PROTECTION OF" rather than the US approach which is "AID FOR" and "ASSISTANCE TO." Thus Dr. Lubic in 1998, in a six year effort, founded the Family Health and Birth Center (under the Developing Families Center "umbrella"), a unique innovative and collaborative model in an African American area. Nurse-midwifery directed, One Stop Shopping was created, putting health care in its social context with the additional supports of case management, social services, and child care (from the child's 6th week through the age of 3). All are located on one site; a former supermarket gifted to the DFC by a civic minded businessman and renovated mainly through Dr. Lubic's funding efforts. Of particular current interest is the "bundling" of services resulting in the substantial savings to health care systems engendered by the significant reductions of preterm and low birth weight infants and caesarian rates, which both the American and the British national health care systems variously exploit.
The Urban Institute of Washington researched the Family Health and Birth Center Segment in 2010, 2013 and 2014 with findings that include the quality of safe care, enhancement of community health and improved economies are achieved by this innovative approach to maternal and infant care. The American Academy of Nursing (AAN) highlighted the model in its "Edge Runners" Program, which showcases national and global innovative care models to legislators, corporations, media outlets, and philanthropists. A video of Lubic's achievements was recently produced and widely disseminated (https://vimeo.com/17343473). The institute of Medicine in its report on the "Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health" The FHBC was specifically selected as a case study (2011; 56 to 58). Dr. Lubic was designated a "Living Legend" by AAN for her "contributions to the provision of health care services in the United States and in all regions of the world."
Dr. Lubic was and is deeply engaged in global public health issues. She was a member of the First Official American Medical Delegation to the Peoples Republic of China in 1973. She served as an expert consultant to Dr. Philip Lee, Assistant Secretary for Health, DHHS, from 1995-97. She has been a visiting professor, consultant, or lecturer to educational and healthcare organizations in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Germany, France, Great Britain, Norway, Sweden, Canada, and Italy. Birth centers have been established in many of these countries. Having served as director and as president of the American Association of World Health/US Committee for WHO, it honored her for 26 years of service to global health.
Lubic's imagination and determination in addressing health disparities earned her numerous accolades. Elected to the Institute of Medicine/National Academies in 1971, she received the Gustav O. Lienhard Award in 2001 for "outstanding achievement in improving health care services in the United States" and is an Honorary Member of Alpha Omega Alpha, The Medical Honor Society. Honored by nine universities including 8 honorary doctorates, she is a Fellow of six professional organizations including the New York Academy of Medicine. On June 6, 2010, Dr. Lubic received a Lifetime Achievement Award in Washington, DC at the UNFPA sponsored "Strengthening Midwifery Symposium," which was attended by a consortium of professional organizations. Her many other awards include the Rockefeller Public Service Award, presented by Princeton University. She has also testified and conducted briefings before each house of Congress on the Developing Families Center.
As Program Executive of the DFC, Dr. Lubic's current work is in advocacy on behalf of public health and the reduction of health disparities including: revamping the federal FQHC regulations, redefining the Perinatal Period to include the period from conception through the third year of life, and supporting responsible replication of birth centers nationally and globally. Having achieved her 90th year, Dr. Lubic remains active in interpreting her model.
Dr. Lubic has been featured in numerous volumes of Who's Who in American Nursing, Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare, Who's Who in the World, and Who's Who of American Women.
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Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who's Who in America , Marquis Who's Who has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field of endeavor, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Today, Who's Who in America remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms around the world. Marquis publications may be visited at the official Marquis Who's Who website at www.marquiswhoswho.com.
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