During a home birth a midwife is trained to evaluate the safety of the situation for both mother and baby. A midwife will use what’s called a Doppler to listen to the baby’s heartbeat periodically and it’s considered very safe as long as it’s done at proper intervals. And she’s trained to recognize variations in the fetal heartbeat that could require a hospital transfer. Similarly with a mother, if a mother’s blood pressure gets high, or she exhibits any signs of distress, there are limits to her ability to practice at home that require a hospital transfer. And no midwife wants anything bad to happen to you during a home birth and when in doubt, they’re going to suggest the hospital. And that is part of the reason why home births are considered so safe, it’s because the midwife has trained to know when you have fallen outside of the realm of low risk birth.