TWO thousand pounds a day is the bill a Malaysian couple is likely to receive after their holiday plans were interrupted by their little bundle of joy.

Irina Ishak, 35, was visiting her sister - an anaesthetist at the John Radcliffe hospital - in Oxford when she went into labour ten weeks early, on August 3.

Baby Amin is still in the high dependency unit of John Radcliffe hospital and could be there for at least another two weeks.

The couple, who has visited their newborn son every day since, praised the care he is receiving from staff at the Headington hospital.

And along with husband Hakam Razak, 36, the new mum says there has been an 'overwhelming' response as strangers donated to an appeal to help raise some of the £100,000 they will have to pay for baby Amin's first few weeks of life on a ward.

Mr Razak said: “We thought about trying to pay ourselves, but all our savings won’t cover the costs.

We’ve spoken to the NHS and there’s no way they can reduce the fee. We understand the rules are there for a reason.

“We’re using all our savings, but it isn’t enough. If we were earning in the UK and in pounds it would be a different story, but because we earn in Malaysia it’s a struggle.

“We know there are other issues in the world, but as parents we have to do what’s best for the baby.”

Because Mr Razak and Dr Ishak are overseas visitors, they are being charged 150 per cent of the NHS standard rate.

Their final bill will only be disclosed to them when baby Amin is discharged, but they have been told by doctors it will cost around £2,000 a day which could equate to more than £100,000.

Although the couple had travel insurance, it did not cover hospitalisation due to pregnancy-related matters, including childbirth.

Baby Amin had to stay in the neonatal intensive care unit for a month as he was born prematurely. He is struggling with breathing, and being fed through a tube as he is too premature to be breastfed.

They tried to reach out to emergency funds in both the UK and Malaysia but were unsuccessful.

The couple has raised more than £20,000 so far.

Baby Amin, who was only 3lbs and 10oz when he was born, will not be able to fly home until he has at least reached his full term on October 10, meaning that the family will have to remain in the UK until at least that time.

Dr Ishak, a surgeon at a hospital in Kuala Lumpur, is not missing work as she is on maternity leave, but Mr Razak is in negotiations with his employers over the future of his job as an engineer.

Despite the average wage in Malaysia being only around £300 a month, most of the donations to the couple have come through people in Malaysia where the campaign has 'gone viral'.

As Dr Ishak is a government employee, most of the cost of her labour would have been free if she had given birth in Malaysia. Any additional costs would have been covered by her husband’s company.

And she was given the all-clear by her doctor prior to the trip. She said: “My doctor saw no sign that the baby was going to come early. I just wanted to see my sister before the baby was born.

I don’t see her very often. It’s very difficult to travel, with a baby, so we made the trip before he was born.

“The staff in Oxford have been great, but it’s a really tough time. If it wasn’t for money we wouldn’t care where he was born, but it’s very different to what we had planned, he just wanted to come early. It doesn’t matter if he’s born in Malaysia or the UK or Nigeria, we just want him to be safe.”

Their daughter, Alya, 3, was born through a planned caesarean in Malaysia. They said their bill for having her was 'less than £100'.

Dr Ishak said that Alya understands that her little brother is sick and is frustrated that she is unable to take him home, but has been helping the nurses look after him, and even been able to give him a cuddle.

The couple added that they 'respect' NHS policy and understand why the bill is so high.

A Oxford University Hospitals Trust spokesman said that the trust does not comment on individual cases but that it is 'a nationwide issue'. The trust said people who live outside the European Economic Area who do not have insurance are charged at 150 per cent of the NHS national tariff for any care they receive.

To donate to their fund visit gofundme.com/AminMikael