Graham Wharton - the report isn't about foreign NATIONALS who give birth here - it's about foreign BORN mothers many of whom are British citizens. You don't have to be born here to be British and not everyone counted in the report just got off the proverbial banana boat yesterday.

Liz, Inverness,

There should be a national debate about our finite resources. If a foreign national has a child here, the birth of the child is only the start when it comes to costs. If the individual concerned needs state housing they will be pushed right to the top of the list even though there are waiting lists of several years, especially in London. It wasn't long ago that soldiers who had seen action in several countries and quite reasonably thought I've had enough of this, suddenly found they would be placed right at the bottom of the housing list, has this changed?? Yes the UK truly does take care of its own doesn't it??

The list goes on, social security payments, pre-school
child care, education. This debate has got nothing to do with racism, its all about resources.

Do not bitch about the increase in Income Tax when it comes because its on its way, as surely as the sun rises in the morning.

Graham Wharton, St. Albans, uk

oh dear, trust someone to pull out the racism card.
this is about our healthcare system, not about race or religion.

Duncan, coventry,

These are not aliens, but PEOPLE, who cares where they come from - stop talking about them like they are some sort of dangerous animal, they are human beings who require a level of care we demand as normal.

shazzy, windsor, uk

so what ?

richard mullens, London, Europe

I'm a foreign born mother. I came here in 1969, aged just over a year old. My mother is British, born & bred. I have a British passport. My son was born here and is British. I have worked here and paid tax and national insurance. What the hell else do I have to do to be considered British and therefore worthy of NHS treatment? I wonder how many other of the foreign born mothers in the statistics have backgrounds similar to me? I am guessing a lot.

Liz, Inverness,

What kind of racist nonsence is it this time?
When will this racist nonsence ever end?
Now it is ladies giving birth, and babies who are costing us too much money by chosing to be born here. Whose next on the racist hit list?
350 million is nothing, pennies compared to the amount of money the Neo Labour spends on their friends.
350 million is less then the the cost of killing a couple Iraqis.
What are they complaining about, just tell the army to kill a couple less and use that money to pay for babies being born

Abdullah Cohn, London, UK

Here you go again, bitching about the cost of caring for babies whilst your government happily spends billions more killing babies and other innocents around the world.
What goes around..... get over it and be grateful.
£350m is the cost of a few cluster bombs and it's hardly surprising that young families are scattering around the globe trying to find a safe haven.
If you terrorise poor people like the west has done for centuries now you're going to get this backlash and it's high time countries such as the UK accepted that fact.
If you're going to deny children the right to life even in your so called civilised society then you deserve everything your enemies will forever throw at you.

Steve , Alicante, Spain

A Jeans rightly point out another xenophobic article targeted on foreigners in UK. It will be interesting to see the split of the mothers by nationality. I am sure a big proportion of the mothers who use this service is from the EU and UK has got an obligation to look after them. The second big proportion would be from from people from outside the europe including US, Australia, South Africa and India who pay the standard tax rates. Rather then painting all foreigners as creating a burden to the health service, the press should also look at the benefits of this group of people.

SSK, Liverpool,

Surely the answer is obvious.
When we go to a country other than where we have paid for health care, the visiting country sends the whole bill to the UK.
Conversely, when a foreigner comes to the UK and falls ill, the bill for their treatment is given to their country.
I suggest this system be in place for the first 2 - 5 years of residence, whichever term would work best.

GJB, Slough, Berkshire

Why should we in England pay for pregnant foreigners whilst failing to support our indiginous elderly?

Pregnancy is not an illness, it is a lifestyle choice and should not be covered by the NHS unless the baby is in danger. Bearing a child whilst unable to support it should be a crime.

Chris, Ashford, Middlx,

I think this headline screams of xenophobia. Firstly. a large increase in foreign born mothers is from European countries - welcome to the EU! Britain has only itself to blame for the increase burden from its membership to the EU - it will only get worse with further enlargement.
Secondly, foreign born mothers who are married to British men should be entitled to maternity services (perhaps a term of residency should be provided). I count as one of these foreign born Mothers (I am American) who has been married to an Englishman for 9 years and have paid ( and continue) to pay my taxes. The problem rests with heavily pregnant women allowed on short visas and the EU burden

A JEANS, OXFORD,