This is, of course, the obvious counter-argument, but even in cases of complication it's usually not a problem getting EMS there in time. In parts of the US, midwifery is illegal, but there are places like this (http://www.ncbirthcenter.com/) that provide midwife services in a natural, homelike setting, but which also have hospital privileges and an OB/GYN on staff in case anything goes wrong. There's another important bit, too. Doulas (http://www.dona.org/mothers/) are becoming much more popular, in an effort to provide a similar kind of support through labor & delivery as a midwife might, but within a hospital setting. We used one with our two children and it was really calming to have someone around who wasn't hospital staff AND had experienced hundreds of births AND was there to do whatever my wife needed throughout.
My mother-in-law is a retired nurse midwife who delivered >600 babies in England & Scotland during her career before moving to the US. I don't know if it's still true, but she tells us that in the UK, midwives have special privileges for things like transportation -- free bus/train/subway, and the ability to hail a cab and get a free ride if it's necessary. This may not be true any longer. She relocated in 1969.
In the case of my daughter, an uncomplicated pregnancy almost resulted in her death. She had severe MAS when she was born and could not use her lungs. It took a team of nurses and a doctor to keep her alive long enough for a medivac to another hospital with a NICU3. She ended up on ECMO (life-support) for 10 days and a respirator for another week after that.
I have zero doubt that had she been born at home she would have died or had severe brain damage before she could get to a facility capable of saving her.
I am a huge opponent of having children away from medical facilities.
As the GP said, it's uncomplicated until it isn't.
I suspect he means that in some jurisdictions, you need to be a licensed medical practitioner of some sort, so the traditional "on the ground" experience of midwives by itself won't qualify.
This could be a translation error, but "birth nurses" seem to be called "midwives" in the UK whereas that's not the case in the US (at least as I understand it).
There are different certifications. One in the US is Certified Nurse Midwife, essentially they are RNs with a certification in midwifery as well. They can have privileges at hospitals, which is a very useful backup in cases where something goes wrong in a non-911 sort of manner. There are also Certified Midwifes, which have a somewhat less medical oriented training and may not be able to bring patients into a hospital as 'their patient'.
(A little late but...) I said that because, for example I stubbled across a UK show called 'Midwives' and it was about a maternity ward. Most of the people there are what I would call 'nurses' in the US, even if they are Nurse-Midwives by certification. I was expecting the show to be about something more akin to home-births.
I have an aunt that's a neo-natal nurse, and I've never heard her refer to fellow nurses as midwives (but I've never directly asked her before).
My mother-in-law is a retired nurse midwife who delivered >600 babies in England & Scotland during her career before moving to the US. I don't know if it's still true, but she tells us that in the UK, midwives have special privileges for things like transportation -- free bus/train/subway, and the ability to hail a cab and get a free ride if it's necessary. This may not be true any longer. She relocated in 1969.