I am devastated to hear of this attack on this wonderful profession. I will do absolutely anything I can to help because my birth experiences were totally transformed by the presence and exceptional skills of a very special person.

I initially tried to get antenatal care through the NHS. It had never occurred to me prior to becoming pregnant that this would be problematic. However, I was not well when I was pregnant with my first child and struggled to get any help managing my symptoms. When I finally saw an NHS midwife (at 25 weeks) she was positively rude and hostile. She would not entertain my questions or suggestion that I try a water birth or a birth at home. She curtly stated that my large bump was ‘mostly mum’ and that I was ‘the type of person who would need an epidural’.

I switched to an independent midwife soon after that because I was too traumatised to see her again. My treatment with my independent midwife couldn’t have been more different. She is a true professional. She did all my antenatal and postnatal examinations at home, she correctly judged the size of both of my children (Alexandra 9lb 5oz and David 10lb) and she enabled me to deliver them at home with minimal intervention and no chemical pain relief. My labours were so long that had I been in hospital I am sure that I would have had to have had caesarians. The benefits of giving birth at home are massive (just being able to eat & drink when you want to is a huge boon) and I would never want to give birth in a hospital now. The government should be trying to train NHS midwives to do homebirths not trying to ban them. How much money could they save if only genuine emergencies were given caesarians?(ex-client of independent midwife)

I recently gave birth to a little boy at home, a successful 'Vbac". A wonderful labour and delivery where my body was calmly allowed to proceed as it wished with minimal intervention but maximum support and 'wise watching' from my independent midwife.

Having previously had a cesearean the NHS midwives were not keen on a home birth, and would not even have 'allowed' me - in their words - to give birth in the low-risk unit. I am utterly convinced that we would have had to endure fetal monitoring and a barage of other interventions if the option of an independent midwife had not been available to us. I hope that more people, not less, can have this option in the future.(ex-client of independent midwife)

Just to acknowledge a generous donation of £500 to the fund from my
92-year old very with-it Dad.He is perturbed by our situation and
wants to help. As he astutely observes, the whole issue is about
freedom which is something he feels very strongly about.
He also thought that he might set a precedent for other parents to
contribute where possible.

He has also commented on how impessed he is by a group (of women)
getting themselves so organised without a " leader". Coming from the
world of business and bosses, he is impressed by the our democracy.
This is not for praise or thanks but my way of acknowledging his
support on behalf of everyone.(independent midwife on behalf of her Dad)

When I becam pregnant in 2002 I never dreamt of having a home birth. As far as I was concerned babies were born in hospital and that was the safest place to be. I spoke to my doctor who gave me the choice of two local hospitals to which she would refer me. She had no information as to how I should make my decision other than the addresses of the hospitals! I did some research and chose one to which my doctor then referred me. After 5 weeks and several efforts to chase up what was going on it was clear that the hosptial had lost the referral and a second copy of the paperwork. Having lost confidence in my choice I was then referred to the second hospital and received my midwifery care through that hospital and the local midwifery team. Appointments were invariably hurried and with a new midwife each time.

My daughter has recently had a homebirth with an excellent independent midwife in Newbury. Her ante natal care was very good and because she got to know her midwife, she had every confidence in her, and she was able to have a 'good', stress free birth.

The excellent level of care continued daily for a few weeks after the birth. My daughter realises that she is fortunate that she could afford to give birth this way, but she had been so put off by hearing friends talk of their experience in the NHS that she sold her car to pay for it.

However, I feel very strongly that all mothers should have this same continuity of care on the NHS. When I had my own 3 children, 30 years ago, I had exactly the same treatment from the NHS that my daughters generation are forced to pay for. I saw the same community midwife from my local surgery all through each pregnancy. She visited me at home, before taking me to give birh at the GP Unit at the JR hospital in Oxford. She delivered 2 of my babies at hospital and one at home and she visited daily for several weeks after the births. While in hospital with my first baby, I had someone with me to help at every feed, nappy change and bath until I felt confident to go home after 5 days.

I feel that every woman should have the right to this kind of continuity of care at such an important time, and that the midwifery services in the NHS should be allowed the staff, the time and the money to carry out their important job properly, as they used to do. In the meantime, I fully support all that the independent midwives do for mothers and wish them well in their campaign. (grandmother)