Yes, had a homebirth. We originally met her at the local homebirth group but she left halfway through because she had a bad back & found sitting awkward. Cue her turning up just a couple of weeks later to deliver DS! She brought a student with her & I'm so glad I agreed to that - she was fab! Very long story slightly shorter... My contractions started at 5 mins apart, lasting just under a minute. We called her when they were 3 minutes apart, at about 11pm. She'd been working all day so was understandably tired. She seemed a bit abrupt when she tried to examine me & I had to ask her to stop because another contraction was starting & I couldn't bear to be on my back/lying still. It was on my birth plan that I didn't want any internals until I felt ready to push so I don't know why she was even trying to do it. Later on she announced that she could see a trace of meconium staining in the waters. She showed DH under a yellowish light & he couldn't see anything. By this point we were already getting the impression she just didn't want to be there. Shortly after that she decided they had to monitor the heartbeat every couple of minutes. I couldn't tell where one contraction ended & the next began which made it awkward for them to check it between contractions. It didn't help them that I needed to be kneeling & leaning over a beanbag! I managed to move enough that the student could get the device underneath me - clearly the actual mw had no intention of doing anything hands-on. Given that they were trying to measure the heartbeat in the middle of a contraction it's not overly surprising that it seemed a little low. It did come back up to within normal, non-contraction ranges but she chose to ignore these readings because she was busy insisting that we really should be transferring in, telling us repeatedly that she'd feel more comfortable if she could call an ambulance & then telling us it was our choice... Before starting to go on about it again when DH said no. It was at this point that she loudly announced that "this baby may not come out alive". Her exact words. We agreed to let her call an ambulance & it arrived a few minutes later so the paramedics stood around on the landing as DS was born about 2 minutes after they arrived. He was fine. If DH hadn't stood up to her I strongly suspect that DS would either have been born in the ambulance or that the faffing of moving would've interrupted the labour & he could've got into trouble then.
I had a small pph & a bad 2nd degree tear which she 'wasn't willing' to stitch at home so we did transfer in. The doctor she handed me over to commented on how dehydrated I was. It was only at this point that she sternly said to me "yes, you haven't been to the toilet at least since we arrived & you weren't drinking either". She'd not thought to mention that fluids are important before that though. I would've guessed at it being shortly after midnight when DS was born, not 4am so clearly I wasn't going to have drunk enough in that time! I also overheard her talking to the doctor about some potential job opportunity have just discovered she was doing the Supervisor of Midwives training & she said something along the lines of how she was reconsidering it after a night like that, the implication being that I was just awkward. I kinda thought that the midwife was there to advise me, perhaps encourage helpful positions & generally make suggestions about how to get the best outcome possible, not to shout at me, ignore my wishes, be stroppy with me & then tell me off for not drinking as if they'd been encouraging it all night!
I did briefly speak to her supervisor about it at my booking appointment this time & she said that most people think she's great. I can understand that: she had a bad back, she'd been working all day & we weren't blindly following their protocol but she barely interacted with us at all before getting cross that we weren't just doing what we were told & she tried to turn the whole thing into my fault by insisting that I should've drunk more. It just all gave us the impression that she didn't want to be there & was v keen for everyone to know that none of it was 'her fault'. I'm sure she's a lovely lady & generally competent but the thought of having her anywhere near me during labour makes me feel v emotional & physically sick so I really can't have her be in charge of another delivery! I just can't trust her to listen to me.
If we could afford it we'd hire a private midwife so we could guarantee who we'd get. I've just discovered that one of the MWs I got to know during my last pregnancy is now in charge of a local midwife-led unit. That'd be my next choice if my only homebirth option was to have DS's midwife!
Sorry, that really was v long... You did ask though! 