I know an L&D nurse who is very much against home births. In her years of experience, she has seen multiple patients/babies who would have died if they had been home births.

One example was one of her best friends. She insisted on a home birth and nearly died during the delivery. Sometimes those extra minutes can mean life or death.

Of course such cases are rare, but in speaking with this nurse, she has very strong feelings against home births. She has just seen too many sad cases--she thinks if people knew the high risks associated with them, they would not chance it.