It's legal for you to have a birth at home (or anywhere else!), it's just that if you have a private midwife with you, SHE is breaking the law (you're not though). So while you wouldn't get prosecuted, your middy, if you had one, would get a $30 000 fine.
Important point.

So, its not really the birthing mother who has to go underground, but the midwife. The midwife is the one who takes on the risks. I think it is easier to say (as a prospective birthmother) 'absolutely, i would go underground'.

If i was a midwife, i would want to be absolutely confident in the trust between myself and the client that they would protect me (if that was the agreement) for the whole time. I also think (if i was a midwife!) that it would be more difficult to remain committed to the homebirth experience when things got a bit difficult, with these laws hanging over you head. If something happened, you could be risking your house and livelihood ($30,000 fine) plus the effects on your professionally.