Efforts are underway to open Vermont’s first freestanding birth center

A group of midwives — many of whom worked for the recently-shuttered birthing unit at Copley Hospital — are laboring to open Vermont’s first freestanding birth center.

The initiative, called the Green Mountain Birth Center , is in very early stages. But Mary Lou Kopas, a certified nurse midwife who’s helping to lead the effort, said the group is trying to move “as fast as we can” to capitalize on momentum locally and nationally.

“There's a lot of people who are angry about the closing of the birthing center at Copley,” she said. “And two: there's a lot of awareness nationally about the maternity care problem in the United States, and so there's a lot of people looking to contribute to solutions.”

The group hopes to open up shop in 2027, and has just started fundraising efforts. Copl