About the Center

Our Location

Family Health and Birth Center
801 17th Street NE
Washington, DC 20002
Ph 202-398-5520
Fax 202-396-6953

Hours

*Inclement Weather Policy: FHBC follows the DC Public Schools in cases of inclement weather. FHBC will only close when the DC Schools close completely.

Accreditation

The Family Health and Birth Center is a licensed and accredited institution. We are nationally accredited by the Commission for Accreditation of Birth Centers and licensed by the DC Department of Health.

Mission

The mission of the Family Health and Birth Center is to improve the health status of the families of the District of Columbia. Our goals are to:

1. Provide family centered, community based primary health care services with a focus on prevention
2. Provide maternity and birth care, focusing on services provided by or through the freestanding birth center
3. In collaboration with community residents, identify and offer other health care services needed in the community
4. Provide integrated services in collaboration with social, early childhood and family development services
5. Focus on improving the health status of families in the surrounding community
6. Establish a model for the effecting, efficient delivery of essential health care services for other DC neighborhoods and for other medically underserved areas of the nation

We strive to meet these goals by employing the following strategies:

1. Emphasize choice, empowerment and inclusion of families in decision-making regarding services offered.
2. Provide services on a nurse-midwife/nurse practitioner model with appropriate medical collaboration and hospital back-up.
3. Emphasize recruitment of staff who are well-qualified clinicians and professionals and are culturally competent, consistent with the make-up of the population being served.
4. Collaborate with health, social and early childhood development sevceis co-located with the birth center and in the community.
5. Evaluate services in terms of clinical outcomes, evidence of empowerment and cost-effectiveness.

History

In 1994, Ruth Watson Lubic, an experienced nurse-midwife and health care reform advocate, began an exploration of working with existing community agencies in the District of Columbia to establish a freestanding birth center in a low-income area with high rates of infant and maternal mortality. Dr. Lubic, recipient of a MacArthur Genius grant, donated her award monies to the project and worked tirelessly to acquire other sources of initial support. Over the next six years a partnership was developed with the Healthy Babies Project, a case management and social supports organization that was also nurse managed. In addition, a site was located in Ward 5, a low income, and predominantly African American area of Northeast DC that experiences high rates of infant and maternal disparities. Those disparities place the United States at 29th in infant survival among the developed nations of the world. In 1998, the Hechinger/England families donated the site, a former Safeway supermarket with space to accommodate childcare. Funds were secured to renovate the building and property, and in October of 2000 the DC Birth Center opened its doors to the families of Wards 5 & 6. Over the past several years, we have expanded our geographic focus to include families from other communities in the District and its surrounding areas. Indeed, the DFC serves as an example of community development to the entire metropolitan area.

Today, the Family Health and Birth Center (FHBC), formerly known as the DC Birth Center, exists as one of three partners that together form the DC Developing Families Center (DFC). The other two partners are the Healthy Babies Project, an outreach, case management and educational agency, and the United Planning Organization’s Early Childhood Development Center (UPO ECDC), which operates an infant and toddler early childhood education and development program on site. These three organizations pursue a collaborative model in order to meet the holistic needs of the families we serve, regardless of ability to pay. This collaboration and the design of the umbrella organization embody FHBC’s philosophy of multidisciplinary care through health promotion, disease prevention and healthcare that is provided in a social context. Since 2000, several thousand families have been served by the collaboration and statistically significant decreases in childbirth disparities have been documented and reported.

What is a Midwife?

Throughout human history, women have been guided and supported by other women during their transitions to motherhood. In many countries, Midwives are the primary providers of prenatal, birth, and postpartum care. The 28 countries that boast better outcomes for mothers and babies than the United States are the same countries that have the highest rates of midwifery care. In 1990, The World Health Organization (WHO) declared that birth was actually safer for mothers and babies when utilizing midwifery care for pregnancy and childbirth.

In the United States there are different types of Midwives, associated with different educational tracks and different clinical license categories. Our midwives are Certified Nurse-Midwives (CNMs) who have received extensive education in both Nursing and Midwifery. After attending an educational program accredited by the American College of Nurse-Midwives Certification Council (ACC), they have passed the ACC examination and then received their DC license.

Above all else, Midwifery is based on respect for women— for their bodies, their minds, and their ability to make choices that are right for themselves and their families. Midwives view birth as a normal, natural event, and believe that most women are fully capable of giving birth. Midwives view care giving as a partnership and believe that every woman has the right to create her own safe childbirth experience. As such, Midwives emphasize empowerment and education for the mother, her partner, and the community at large.

Midwives respect intimacy, privacy, and family integrity, and draw on their own patience and understanding to provide care during pregnancy and birth. Midwives respect a wide range of women's needs, including personal and cultural values. Midwifery combines traditional skills and modern medical techniques to ensure the safety of mother and child, and to safeguard the process of normal birth.

Midwives also maintain associations with physicians and other health care providers to ensure that mother and child have the best knowledge and technology available. Midwifery, however, believes in the judicious use of technology, employing it only when necessary, or medically indicated. Midwives avoid the risks and discomforts of unnecessary technological procedures during birth, but are well trained and capable of recognizing when such interventions are appropriate and administering them.

Finally, Midwifery care is safe, evidence-based care. The Midwives of the Family Health and Birth Center, like Midwives throughout the United States and the world, have extremely positive outcomes. FHBC boasts extremely low rates of preterm birth, low birth weight, cesarean section, and episiotomy. We assert that this is in part because we take the time to provide holistic, individualized care. Our midwives recognize that every woman is different, and comes to us with different experiences, beliefs and needs. We meet women where they are and as such, our moms and babies are happy, healthy, and expertly cared for, body and mind.

What is a Nurse Practitioner?

Our Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (PNP) offer primary pediatric care to the children of our community. Our lead PNP, Marcia Jackson-Hooper, has been with the Birth Center since we opened our doors, and she was the original creative force behind the pediatric practice. Born and raised in DC, Marcia knows our community inside and out, and in some cases has even cared for multiple generations of the same family. In Washington DC, Advanced Practice Nurses such as ours are able to practice and prescribe treatments independently. Please see below for a detailed description of the role of a Nurse Practitioner:

According to the American College of Nurse Practitioners:
“Nurse practitioners (NPs) are registered nurses who are prepared, through advanced education and clinical training, to provide a wide range of preventive and acute health care services to individuals of all ages. Today, NPs complete graduate-level education preparation that leads to a Master’s degree. NPs take health histories and provide complete physical examinations; diagnose and treat many common acute and chronic problems; interpret laboratory results and X-rays; prescribe and manage medications and other therapies; provide health teaching and supportive counseling with an emphasis on prevention of illness and health maintenance; and refer patients to other health professionals as needed. NPs provide services for the diagnosis, treatment and management of disease as well as illness prevention and health maintenance. Numerous studies conclude that nurse practitioners perform as well as physicians in their specialty area of practice, in patient diagnosis, management of specific diseases and patient outcomes. NPs have improved access to and affordability of health care by consistently offering high quality and cost- effective services.”

From the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP):
“NPs are advanced practice nurses who provide high-quality healthcare services similar to those of a doctor. NPs diagnose and treat a wide range of health problems. They have a unique approach and stress both care and cure. Besides clinical care, NPs focus on health promotion, disease prevention, health education and counseling. They help patients make wise health and lifestyle choices. In addition to being top-notch healthcare providers, NPs deliver a unique blend of nursing and medical care. They provide comprehensive, personalized health education and counseling. NPs assist patients in making better lifestyle and health decisions. NPs have distinguished themselves from other healthcare providers by focusing on the whole person when treating specific health problems and educating their patients on the effects those problems will have on them, their loved ones and their communities.”

What is a Breastfeeding Peer Counselor?

Breastfeeding Peer Counselors (BFPC) are women who have breastfed and now work to support other women to do the same. Our BFPCs are trained by La Leche League International, which has over 40 years of experience in breastfeeding support and education. The La Leche League training philosophy and curriculum combines adult learning skills and communication tools with current, accurate breastfeeding information and support in a way that respects women's own personal life experiences, cultural diversity, and breastfeeding knowledge. In addition to the La Leche League training, all of our BFPCs have also been trained as Community Health Workers (CHW) and thus bring a unique combination skill set to their work of breastfeeding promotion and community empowerment. BFPCs and CHWs are empowered to educate and support their peers in both formal group settings and informal settings such as stores, churches, schools and offices. BFPCs help women to make educated decisions about their personal feeding choices and then reach the goals they’ve set. Breastfeeding Peer Counselor programs reach across barriers to unite those interested in decreasing mortality and morbidity and promoting optimum health for women and children by increasing the rate and duration of breastfeeding.

What is a Doula?

The word "doula" (DOO-luh) comes from the ancient Greek meaning "a woman who serves" and is now used to refer to a trained and experienced professional who provides continuous physical, emotional and informational support to the mother before, during and just after birth. During labor, Doulas can provide massage, aromatherapy, heat/cold compresses, suggest position changes, provide counter pressure, hip squeezes, and a number of other physical supports.

Doulas DO...

• provide emotional and physical support throughout labor
• suggest comfort measures
• explain practices and procedures to allow for informed decision making
• support the family in advocating for their wishes
• refer family to community resources

Doulas DON’T...

• perform medical or clinical tasks, including vaginal exams, or fetal heart tones
• “prescribe” treatment
• make decisions for the client
• speak instead of the client
• replace the partner’s support role

For more details on the FHBC Doula program, please see “Services”. If you have questions about doula services offered at FHBC, or if you are interested in becoming an FHBC volunteer doula, please contact Katie Daily at Doulas@yourfhbc.org