In January, a patient arrived at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital in hemorrhagic shock after a 45-minute ambulance ride from a home birth. She would likely have died traveling another 30 minutes. Earlier that year, a baby was delivered at 23 weeks because the mother was too unstable to transfer. These are not edge cases. They are the reason this birth center must stay open.

On July 2, the BMH board voted to close its birthing center within six to nine months unless emergency funds are secured. The hospital spends $3.8 million per year on birth services, and with Medicaid reimbursing only 58% of the true cost of maternal care, no community hospital can break even. BMH is now drawing from its endowment just to stay open.

But closing the birth center would cost far more than it saves. Windham County is the oldest county in Vermont's oldest state. When communities lose birth services, young families leave, and they do not come back. One in three Vermonters already live more than 30 minutes from a birth hospital. Closing BMH pushes that number further and leaves families with nowhere to go.

What makes this especially troubling: BMH is exceptional. In 2025, its primary cesarean rate was 13%, compared to a national average of 23%. Vermont earned a perfect "A" on the March of Dimes maternal health report card. This birth center is not closing because of poor care. It is closing because the system does not pay the full cost of good care.

The governor, the Green Mountain Care Board, and Vermont's legislators must act. Fund the birthing center. Reform Medicaid reimbursements. Implement standby capacity payments so rural hospitals are not penalized for staying open 24 hours a day regardless of volume. Sign to save Brattleboro's birth center and the families who depend on it.