Home Office blamed for NHS bills paid by mothers stuck in UK amid pandemic

Women who were forced to give birth in UK by visa delays say ministers promised they would not be penalised

Dozens of women who were stranded in the UK and gave birth there during the Covid pandemic have been saddled with expensive maternity care bills, after Home Office delays in processing their visas.

Visitors to the UK, some on temporary visas such as fiancee visas, found themselves unable to leave the country after the pandemic took hold in March 2020.