Personally, my BP rises whenever I am in a medical setting, be that a hospital, GP surgery or having a MW check at the local children's centre. At home it is always lower. Therefore, by staying at home I deduce I am less likely to have an issue with BP than I would at hospital. But at hospital it would be said 'Ooh, it's a good job you're here, your BP is high - we can monitor it here'.
Being in an unfamiliar environment (eg a hospital) can stall labour in some women. So what happens?
Perhaps someone says 'ooh you are progressing too slowly (or not at all) since you've arrived - good job you're here and not at home! We can get labour going again with ARM/synto' and so starts the cascade of intervention - synto, CFM, perhaps an epidural so you're on your back on the bed, but then baby doesn't descend as the uterine muscles don't work so well under epidural. So someone says 'ooh baby's stuck - good job you're here and not at home, we can get baby out with forceps'.
Increased intervention leads to an increased risk of PPH and retained placenta - but that's OK - good job you're in hospital because they can whip you into theatre and get that placenta out and stop the bleed.
Now of course, for most women hospital births are safe and don't involve the cascade of intervention - and for most women that do have intervention, then it's necessary. But it's not always safe, and intervention is not always necessary. Babies still die in hospital unexpectedly. Women still die in hospital unexpectedly. And this is with all the super obstetric care of the NHS right there.
By the same token, most women who have home births it is safe, and for the majority of those who do have difficulties, problems are picked up sooner than they would be in a hospital and then the majority of these women are able to get to a hospital in time for any assistance necessary. Of course, it's not always safe. Women and babies die during homebirths as well.
It really pisses me off that women are lambasted either way for making their choice to be honest. For some women a hospital birth is absolutely the right choice for them and their babie, regardless of whether they are low or high risk. For others a home birth is the right choice for them and their babies.
Instead of sitting here going to each other 'you shouldn't do that, it's dangerous and it's the wrong choice' we should be bloody well supporting each other and appreciating that each one of us has to make the decision that is right for us and our families, whilst respecting the fact that that decision may not be the one we'd make ourselves.