Authorities at one of England’s largest hospitals will start asking women to show passports before giving birth in a move designed to cut maternity tourism especially from Nigeria.
A report by Daily Mail revealed that expectant mothers will have to provide papers showing they are eligible for free NHS care when they arrive for scans.
Those unable to do so will be referred to the Home Office for possible deportation.
Managers at St George’s in Tooting, south London, said they were facing a growing problem of women flying in from Nigeria solely to have babies.
Such abuse is thought to cost the NHS £200million a year for all types of medical treatment.
Women flying in to give birth is a common problem in a number of hospitals, particularly those close to Heathrow and in Manchester.
In one notorious case, Bimbo Ayelabola arrived from Lagos in 2011 to give birth to premature quintuplets at Homerton Hospital, East London.
The NHS failed to chase Ayelabola, who was delivered of two boys and three girls by caesarean section, in her homeland for the £145,000 costs.
She returned to Nigeria without paying her bill and now works as a make-up artist in Lagos and drives a £17,000 car, according to the Mail Online.
The Department of Health issued new guidelines last year telling hospital staff to ask for passports or proof of identity from any patient before treatment. But few have obeyed because they are too short-staffed or take eligibility for granted.
Managers at St George’s, which serves a population of 1.3million, insist that women will not be turned away if they are in labour.
They will be asked for their passports or other documents at a 12-week scan or antenatal appointment.
These must prove women have lived in the UK for at least six months, which means they are eligible for free NHS care. Without this, they will not be able to carry on with maternity treatment.
Jo Johnson, head of private and overseas patients at the hospital, said health tourism was costing it £4.6million a year.
In board papers obtained by the Health Service Journal, she said four in five overseas patients were absconding before paying their bills. She also said that agents in Nigeria were offering women money to buy flight tickets and come to the UK.
“The problem is escalating within obstetrics and we have just been made aware that individuals are currently offering paid assistance to women in Nigeria to have their babies for free on the NHS at St George’s,” she added.
A spokesman for the Department of Health welcomed the scheme but said hospitals should already be asking patients for passports.
And John O’Connell of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: “The huge burden on hard-pressed taxpayers caused by health tourism on the NHS is simply unsustainable.”
