The new charging system has led to some harrowing experiences.

Despite campaigns to get maternity care exempt from charges for migrants in the UK, women are still being charged and thus deterred from seeking care.

Under the Coalition government, NHS charges were introduced for some international visitors and migrants in an attempt to “keep services sustainable”.

The 2014 Immigration Act has seen hospitals billing some women thousands of pounds for their maternity care, while some reports show that women are being – wrongly – refused antenatal care because they cannot pay up front.