Erm, you need to get up to date with the research honey, home birth IS safe in the UK - read what Enkin et all say in A Guide to Effective Care in Pregnancy & Childbirth, and also Royal College Of Midwives (2002) who state that homebirth should be integrated into mainstream maternity services as a normal option. Planned home birth is AS SAFE as hospital - research proves it, also planned home birth (even if mother transfers to hospital) results in lower rates of intervention and better outcomes for mother and baby. And there are big advantages to being at home - not least less MRSA ! And I'm not a health professional, just someone whose GP refused to care for her during her pregnancy (although he took the money to do so) because I wanted a home birth, so I did my own research.