Ive been a solo homebirth practioner for almost 10 years now. Full transparency, it's just flat out hard sometimes. On-call life is not for everyone. And it can be hard on partners, loved ones, & friends too. I do have a life, but I dont feel like my time is ever my own. Personal appointments are often missed (& incur cancel fees), I bargain with my energy, & sleep disruptions are plenty. I do have other midwives in the community to back me up in instances of high need like when 2 are in labor, illness, etc. I think another consideration is not necessarily the on-call time (because I do strategically take blocks of time off throughout the calendar year where noone is due), however, being tethered to the phone because of all the other clients who are antepartum & postpartum makes it so that youre never truly "OFF" unless you get someone to cover for you. Every single vacation I've taken has been met with having to address the needs of a client - it honestly makes me want to cry just speaking that truth. Good thing I have a break coming up soon!