Oral history interview with Ruth Watson Lubic, 2014

Biographical Note

Ruth Watson Lubic was born in 1927 in Bristol, Pennsylvania. She received a degree in nursing from the University of Pennsylvania and received a midwifery certificate from the Maternity Center Association's School of Nurse Midwifery in 1962. Working with the Maternity Center Association, Lubic helped open the Childbearing Center (CBC) in Manhattan in 1975. At the time, this dedicated center, staffed by nurse midwives was seen as a radical departure from the prevailing practice of in-hospital births. To better aid communities underserved by the healthcare system, a second center was opened in the South Bronx in 1988. In 1993, Lubic received a MacArthur Fellowship or "Genius Grant." She used the award to establish the Developing Families Center in Washington, DC. The organization strives to provide healthcare and social services to underserved mothers and children

Scope and Contents

In this oral history interview, nurse midwife and maternal health policy advocate Ruth Watson Lubic discusses her background, education, experiences with the Maternity Center Association, maternity care in the New York City and Washington, DC, and the founding of the Developing Families Center in Washington, DC. Topics discussed during the first session include: Lubic's family history; youth in Bristol, Pennsylvania; her first interest in medicine and the influence of local doctor Charles Sampsel; experiences after father died; first marriage; nursing student at University of Pennsylvania; family's soda fountain and pharmacy; early experiences as student midwife: Hazel Corbin, R. Gordon Douglas Sr., Edward Mann, Betty Hosford, Patty Machlan, influence of Grantly Dick-Read's Childbirth Without Fear; Lubic's pregnancy and the birth of her son Douglas and challenges; Lubic's decision to become a midwife; visit to China. Topics discussed during the second session include: H. Jack Geiger; federal aid for birth centers; Aaron Shirley; experiences in nursing school; experiences at Maternity Center Associations School of Nurse Midwifery, SUNY, including classes, medical equipment, and clinical experience; Lubic's views on abortion; midwifery programs; Walter P. Metzger and Ruth Bader Ginsburg; experiences with American College of Nurse-Midwife Foundation [ACNM]; Master's in medical surgery nursing; Doctorate in anthropology at Columbia University Teachers College; experiences with medical advisor board: Dr. Pisani, Harold Tovell, Mary Breckinridge; first job at Maternity Center Association; experiences at Institute of Medicine committee. Topics discussed during the third session include: experiences at Maternity Center Association [MCA]; advocacy of home birth; development of MCA birth center; views on working with women in the community; cultural differences; access to health insurance and Medicaid; experiences in South Bronx; connections of anthropology and medical practice; PBS series Call the Midwife; Alvin Donnenfeld; experiences in health advocacy; obtaining Medicaid vendor number for MCA; Edward Koch, Bella Abzug. Topics discussed during the fourth session include: the cultural aspects of work in Washington area; receipt of a MacArthur "Genius Grant"; the Developing Families Center; cultural views on adoption and abortion; childbirth and anesthesia and the effect of antibiotics; Global Alliance for Nursing and Midwifery; experiences at King's County Hospital in Washington DC, including working with the community; relationship of natural childbirth to women's rights; the future of natural birth centers and midwifery. Topics discussed during the fifth session include: Closing of birth center and merge with Elizabeth Seton Childbearing Center (ESCbC); receiving the Gustav O. Lienhard Award; evolution of teaching and midwifery education; arguments between professional midwifery and nurse midwifery; experiences at St. Vincent's Catholic Medical Center; building birth center in Washington, DC. Lubic's husband Bill Lubic also briefly joins the interview, and they discuss meeting, courtship, first home, his family, and his career in law

Subjects

• Birthing centers--New York (State)--New York.
• Birthing centers--Washington (D.C.)
• Childbearing Center of Morris Heights (Bronx, New York, N.Y.)
• Columbia University. Teachers College.
• DC Developing Families Center.
• Hegeman, Elizabeth, interviewer.--http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/ivr
• Interviews.
• Lubic, Ruth Watson.
• Maternal and infant welfare--United States.
• Maternity Center Association (New York, N.Y.)
• Midwifery--United States.
• Midwives
• Nursing--United States.
• Obstetrics.
• Oral histories (literary works)
• St. Vincent's Hospital and Medical Center of New York.

Access Conditions

Copyright by the Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York, 2014