[1] John was a third-generation pharmacist who owned and managed Watson's Drug Store alongside his wife, and Lubic spent much of her childhood there assisting with everyday duties and chores.
[1] At age 25, Lubic began her education and training in a diploma nursing program in 1952 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where she was elected student body president.
[4] Shortly after her marriage, Lubic graduated with her RN diploma and was recognized as the recipient of the Letitia White Award for Highest Academic Average and the Florence Nightingale Medal for Excellence in Nursing Practice.
[1] Lubic's entrance into the field of nurse-midwifery began in 1959 with the birth of her son and her unconventional (for the time) delivery experience, which she considered to be one of the most pivotal moments in her life.
[2][4] Mann later encouraged Lubic to pursue a career as a nurse-midwife through the midwifery training program at Maternity Center Association (MCA).
[13] Another pivotal moment in Lubic's life and career began with her appointment as the General Director of the MCA in 1970, a position she would hold for 25 years until 1995.
[1] Lubic believed that more autonomous, family-centered maternity care and services provided by nurse-midwives could better meet the needs of low-risk expectant individuals and their families.
[4][18] Lubic continued her collaboration with the MCA and Ernst to create refresher-course, nurse-midwifery programs at Booth, the University of Mississippi, and the SUNY Downstate Medical Center.
[4][18] Lubic's prominent role and work in the field of nurse-midwifery resulted in her election to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences as a member of the first class in 1971.
[13] The center faced significant challenges after its establishment due to opposition from the medical community and difficulty acquiring Blue Cross and Medicaid reimbursements.
[19] Because the CbC served primarily middle-class and some upper-class white families in Upper East Side Manhattan, Lubic aimed to bring the same model of more autonomous, low-cost, family-centered maternity care to low-income, marginalized communities.
[13] This center primarily served low-income, African-American and Puerto Rican families of the South Bronx, where the infant mortality rates were the second highest in the United States.
[13][20] In 1993, Lubic was awarded the MacArthur Fellowship “Genius Grant,” which included a $375,000 prize to be disbursed as a $75,000 annual stipend over a period of five years.
[21] Lubic moved to Washington, D.C., in 1994 to begin her work in Ward 5, where the maternal and infant mortality rates were the highest in the United States.