Title: RUTH LUBIC FEATURED IN WASHINGTON POST MAGAZINE

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Section/SPIG: Maternal and Child Health

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Babe Magnet , the long-awaited article on the creation of the Family Health and Birth Center founded by Ruth Lubic, was the cover story for the Washington Post Magazine on Sunday, May 27, 2007.  The article covers the Birth Center, and in particular its success in reducing the rates of premature birth, low birth weight, and cesarean section for the primarily black families being served at the FHBC, while at the same time effecting remarkable cost-savings.  Ruth Lubic has spent the last four decades defying doctors to change the way American women give birth.  Hundreds of babies in Washington, D.C., owe their healthy starts in life to Ruth and her childbirth center, which was opened in 2000 after Ruth received a $375,000 MacArthur Foundation “genius” award.  But the cost of malpractice coverage, coupled with low Medicaid rates, threaten the very existence of the clinic, even though the services are desperately needed in the underserved Northeast D.C. neighborhood where the clinic is located.   Ruth’s story is both inspiring and cautionary, and as she nears her 80^th birthday, far from done.  You can read the complete article at:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/23/AR2007052301294.html?referrer=emailarticle