why not homebirth?

I'm so irritated that I keep starting and restarting this post. I'm baffled. No matter how much I think about it, I can't for the life of me figure out why the state of Illinois should be invested in keeping midwives from practicing. Yeah, great, we have certified nurse midwives who are trained with hospital policies in mind, and not legally permitted to attend homebirths, and most often work for the hospital. Umm, this is not helpful. I cannot trust that this person will be an advocate for me to make sure my well researched choices are honored. In fact, in many cases this person may not be allowed, by hospital policy, to let the parents choose what does and doesn't happen to their child immediately after birth. Even if a particular midwife, nurse, doctor, hospital will allow you to make these decisions, it's hard to know that your birth plan will be followed when 98% of parents probably choose to just follow the standard procedure. I'm not down on that. I think *every* parent has a right to choose what interventions will be administered to his or her baby and when, and if a parent's choice is to follow the hospital's standard procedure, I think that's fine. I just don't feel very sure that the experience my partner, my child, and I will have, will be under our control. I want more than anything to give birth in my home, with my partner, and then to lay in bed together as a family, enjoying our very special day. All studies indicate that this is at *least* as safe as giving birth in a hospital, especially for low risk situations. I'm really saddened that this is looking very unlikely. I suppose that we could have the child at home without *any* professional help, but that's a little further than feels safe for me, even though many people do it successfully. I'm just completely lost as to why the state has made the only choices to be In a Hospital where you will be attended by medical professionals, or at home with no help at all, while excluding the safest, most natural option, of having a trained professional help you give birth at your home. Meanies!