It is bad enough that they have become the objects of public anger.
Now childbirth for mainland mothers in Hong Kong has become an ordeal of frustration and waiting, a last-minute dash to the emergency ward and health risks for their babies, as two women told the South China Morning Post this week.
One young mother gazed in relief at her day-old baby, reflected on the near-panic of her birth on Tuesday and said: 'I had no alternative but to take the risk.'
The 30-year-old mainland mother, who wanted to be called Mary in her interview, is married to a Hong Kong resident. She had made all the preparations she could for the birth of her first child, but she was barred by law from making the most vital preparation - booking a bed in a Hong Kong public hospital.
That led to her harried, last-minute taxi ride to Kwong Wah Hospital with her labour pain already well advanced. Luckily, Mary's baby was normal, and both mother and infant were discharged yesterday.
'Who would take such a risk if there was a choice?' said Mary. The government's suspension of obstetric services for mainland mothers in public hospitals forced her to resort to desperate measures, she said.