They CAN find you a midwife, it might be one you have never met before but they can and will find you one if you simply refuse to move. I've been told if my local hospital (and I live 5 seconds from their front door!) can't provide me one they will check firstly Brighton, then Eastbourne, then East Grinstead (although they don't have a maternity unit?) for one and seem to think someone will be with me within an hour....if all 4 of those hospitals come up with nothing (she says that's highly unlikely indeed) then they start checking further afield, Portsmouth is about 70/80 minutes from her and so forth. That can and will find you one you just have to be stern (really stern!!) or when in labour get hubby/partner to remain stern on the phone to them - often they will insist on talking to you personally to "gauge" how far apart your contractions are - that's rubbish they have no need to speak to you what so ever. Get partner/DH etc to say "no you'll speak to me" because you'll find when in labour your not quite the same assured, assertive and confident woman you are normally and they make you say "ok" to coming in and then know their duty of care has been seen to....if hubby/partner stays strong and tells them to come out then they can, anything else is fobbing you off rubbish.
Obviously medical conditions or situations that arise in labour need hospital treatment but generally it's unlikely that complications will arise at home if you have had a normal pregnancy. Statistically home births are actually becoming slightly more safer than hospital births as women are more relaxed, not so stressed or worried etc than they are being rushed around in hospital and labouring goes better.
Stick to your guns if it's what they want, don't let the old "were short staffed" thing win you over, they can and will (they have to!) find someone to attend you as it's actually illegal for someone other than a midwife or doctor to deliver the baby knowingly. I mean if you went into labour at 10pm and delivered at 10.05pm then your partner etc would have little choice but to help but if you went into labour at 10pm called the midwife, delievered at 2am and no one did attend you and hubby etc had to help then it's no longer illegal and the hospital/care providers become liable for that....
It's really worth reading up on your rights, what you can and can't expect from a home birth and I do hope that by 2009 ladies don't keep going through what we are today to get the birth of their choice as no everyone is strong enough, or knows where to find the information etc, to back themsevles up as you and I can.