The birth center Lubic directed for 25 years in southwest Bronx, NY, is a perfect example of a partnership between nurses and the community. So many poor people feel like they're used by our health care system and doctors. But we empower them. This sense of empowerment, of being in control and not a bystander, extends beyond the women's pregnancies and into their lives. You can get a job, you can go to school.
Mothers use the birth center as a gathering place to discuss their families and their community.
When families are strengthened, the communities are strengthened, Lubic notes. She tells of how the families at the Bronx center established a Community Action Committee to come together and share their hopes, fears, advice and even baby clothes. Lubic hopes the families at the Washington, DC, center will follow that example. To meet her goal of bolstering the community, Lubic has enlisted the support of the community. She is collaborating with the Healthy Babies Project and the National Day Care Association two organizations that know the Washington, DC, neighborhood well.