Title: Center Pampers Mothers-To-Be: Baby Ailments Lower at D.C. Birth Facility

Author:

Section/SPIG: Maternal and Child Health

Issue Date:

---

The Family Health and Birth Center (formerly the D.C. Birth Center) is part of the D.C. Developing Families Center on 17th Street NE. In June, the District’s only independent birth center opened its door to health professionals and other interested parties. The center, housed in a former supermarket across the street from Hechinger Mall, has had low birth-weight, pre-term birth and C-section rates that are 40-50 percent lower than the overall rate for the District. MCH Section member Ruth Watson Lubic, who is in her late 70s and has been a nurse-midwife since 1972, founded the center five years ago. Knowing that the infant mortality rate in D.C. was twice the national average inspired Lubic to create a one-stop place where families – particularly low-income women in disadvantaged areas of the city – could get both child-bearing and child-rearing care. Women across D.C., including the homeless, are welcome. Lubic is the recipient of a 1994 MacArthur Fellowship for starting a birth center in the Bronx.

Soon after this story appeared in the Washington Examiner, the Center was one of two District of Columbia safety net health centers nearly forced to close because of rising malpractice costs. Only quick advocacy work by the D.C. Primary Care Association (DCPCA) kept the doors open. DCPCA is a health action organization serving medically vulnerable residents of D.C. This article is summarized from DCPCA’s Daily Health Alert, a free online newsletter that covers health issues in our nation’s capital. To subscribe, contact Karen Szulgit at <kszulgit@dcpca.org>.