Yes every midwife is different. Mostly an internal is done inbetween contractions although sometimes if you want to break the waters its better to do it during a contraction as it brings the baby's presenting part down so its well applied to the cervix and reduces the risk of a cord prolapse. There can be a big difference between an examination during a contraction and one when there is not a contraction. Sometimes it might be necessary if you are needing to push and the midwife/dr wants to speed the delivery up by trying to push the cervix over the baby's head to facilitate birth when you are not already fully dilated. Obviously this would only be done if the baby needs to be born quickly (fetal distress) or in some case for the benifit of the mother with her consent of course. By the sounds of things these things I have just mentioned were not the case with you but thats some reasons I know why an internal might be done during a contraction. Other wise the midwife is nasty or thinking to save you two pains seperately you might have one larger pain so you can have the inbetween to rest.