House Appropriations Committee advances S.18 to license freestanding birth centers

The Vermont House Appropriations Committee on April 11 voted to report S.18 to the floor, sending a bill to establish state licensure for freestanding birth centers to the full House after a brief, high-level discussion.

The bill would create a new chapter in title 18 for birth-center licensing, define a birth center as a facility whose primary purposes are midwifery care, low-risk deliveries and newborn care with stays generally under 24 hours, and require a state license to operate. It would bar certain high-intervention procedures at licensed birth centers, require rules based on the National Birth Center Standards from the American Association of Birth Centers, and require written transfer procedures to hospitals and collaboration with transport services. S.18 would also add birth centers as a covered site for private health insurance maternity care, exempt birth…