Rep. Ella Chapin files bill to allow freestanding birth centers, create facility licensing

Representative Ella Chapin, of East Montpelier, told the House Health Care Committee she is sponsoring H40, a bill to enable freestanding birth centers in Vermont by exempting such centers from the certificate-of-need process and by establishing a licensing framework for the facilities within the Department of Health.

Chapin defined a freestanding birth center as a non-hospital facility, typically midwife-run, that provides labor and delivery care for low-risk pregnancies and related prenatal and postpartum services. She said the bill would create an optional facility licensing path to ensure centers follow national best practices, without requiring any center to open.

Chapin argued the change would expand birthing options and lower costs. "Birth centers also are now clearly cost — it's clear that they cost significantly less. And that means affordability for individuals and families," she said, noting that neighboring states such as New Hampshire and Massachusetts already have birth centers.

She described the bill as a way to retain and recruit midwives and offer alternative settings for low-risk births, particularly for people who find hospitals triggering or inaccessible. The sponsor said existing midwifery licensure and Medicaid coverage of midwifery services would remain in place; the bill would add a facility licensing process and remove a regulatory barrier (certificate of need) that has limited development of such centers.

Committee members deferred detailed questions to later testimony and accepted a fact sheet the sponsor left for the record. No vote was taken.