A Hong Kong court has sentenced a mainland Chinese woman to six months in jail after she was caught in a restricted area of the Hong Kong Airport waiting to give birth.

26 year-old Xie Miaoling was heavily pregnant when her Dragon Airlines flight had a stopover in Hong Kong last July. Departing from Bangladesh, and continuing on to Guangzhou, Xie refused to get back on the plane, claiming that she did not feel well and needed to sit in the airport’s restricted area for transit passengers.

After missing her flight, Xie disappeared, only to resurface a week later asking Dragon Airlines to help her deliver her baby, which was subsequently born at a Hong Kong hospital.

Xie pleaded guilty to illegally staying in a prohibited zone at the Hong Kong Airport.

Pregnant mainland Chinese women hoping to give birth in Hong Kong to ensure permanent residency for their babies has been a growing problem in the former British colony. According to Hospital Authority figures, visiting women accounted for 254 “emergency delivery” cases in 2015, 98 of which involved women from the mainland.

In response, Hong Kong policymakers have enacted strict laws to deter the practice. According to Hong Kong’s health chief, York Chow, the city is even considering prohibiting mainland mothers from giving birth in public hospitals due to overcrowded maternity wards.