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The details were contained in a report by consultancy Creative Research commissioned by the Department of Health to explore impact of friegn nationals using the NHS.

Heavily pregnant women that "fly in and out" of the UK, sometimes even twins or triplets, with the aim of having their children delivered by British doctors are "one of the greatest challenges for the NHS," according to the first comprehensive assessment of "health tourism."

Maternity units are one of the most frequently accessed by foreign patients the report said.

Overseas visitor officers (OVOs) are employed by hospitals to recover costs from individuals not entitled to free NHS care report many instances of women abusing the system to ensure their child is born in the UK.

Officers also highlighted the issue of women flying in pregnant with babies with serious conditions that were certain to require expensive and complex treatment that is not available in their own country.

Women fly into the UK in the late stages of pregnancy on a tourist visa and are allowed to remain because they are too pregnant or too ill to return, the report said.

Other women used the period following the birth and the fact the child had been born into the UK to help their application for leave to remain in the UK.

It is not just medical care which the hospitals must provide. In many reported cases the women arriving to give birth do not speak English and the trusts are forced to spend "phenomenal" amounts on interpreters.

One hospital receptionist reported a case of a man refusing an interpreter for his wife, who was pregnant with twins, and then relaying incorrect information to her from the medical staff. The receptionist said: "that's why we now have to book interpreters if we possible can for every patient that needs one."