Looks like the government wishes to make life even MORE difficult for mothers by (indirectly) limiting the accessibilty to independant midwives (by making impossible-to-find or intolerably-expensive insurance a pre-requisite). follow the link to sign an e-petition (for what it is worth.....) at at least know that you TRIED to maintain this freedom....

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/midwives/