The case of three student midwives who had their bursary payments cut by the National Health Service (NHS) after taking time off from training to have their babies will be heard at the Court of Appeal tomorrow.

Clare Fletcher, Shelley Wilkinson and Tracey Parkes won a ground-breaking right to have their bursaries continued at an Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) in January 2005.

This was despite taking a break from their course due to maternity leave.

The NHS had argued that the trainees were not "employees" or "workers" and therefore were not entitled to maternity pay. However the EAT ruled that the claimants were clearly deprived of financial support at a time when the assistance was most needed by them.

The NHS will appeal the decision tomorrow.