BRATTLEBORO-I am submitting a comment to the Green Mountain Care Board as a concerned citizen who has lived in Brattleboro for 40 years, run a small business, served on numerous boards, and wants to ensure that the future of our town and state allows for safe births for women from rural areas.
I am requesting that the state publish the drive-time analysis by town (with accuracy and allowing for bad weather and frequent road maintenance work), to have Vermont Medicaid model the New Hampshire rate against Brattleboro's actual claims (by Oct. 1), and to write into the order what would count as a viable solution as opposed to a closure of the Brattleboro Memorial Hospital Birthing Center.
Our governor and state legislators should be very much aware that a lot of younger people will think twice about moving to small towns in Vermont (and helping to keep them vibrant and growing) if there is any risk at all to having a baby in the area.
When I was in my 20s and newly married, I survived an ectopic pregnancy (which happens when a fertilized egg grows outside the uterus) - but just barely.
My husband and his brother drove me from rural Monterey, Massachusetts, to the hospital in Lee, Massachusetts, which is approximately 12 miles and takes about 23 minutes with little traffic. (Try doing the drive during Tanglewood or leaf season!) My husband drove in our old 1963 car, while his brother, in the front seat, reached back and held my hand, saying, "Hang in there; we are almost there," over and over as I passed in and out of consciousness.
An ectopic pregnancy that ruptures is a critical emergency. I remember what happened to me like it was yesterday and do not want other women who live in rural areas to suffer, to possibly die, or to lose a baby, which is why it is imperative to keep this birthing center open.
Women and young couples who want to settle here (to replace the aging generation I am a part of) want the safest possible care, regardless of income.
Petitioning the federal government to raise Medicaid in the state of Vermont for vaginal and C-section births is possible. New Hampshire was successful in Coos County to raise rates, according to the recent and diligent research by Lucas Farrell of Townshend ["Ten minutes from where?," Viewpoint, Sept. 2].
If the aforementioned pregnancy emergency happened to me now, where I live on a dirt road in West Brattleboro, and I had to drive to either Keene, or Greenfield, I most likely would not be here to write this.
Dede Cummings
Brattleboro
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