A mother-of-three who was put behind bars for illegally getting hold of abortion pills after the cut-off period will be released from prison after she won an appeal against her sentence today.

Carla Foster, 45, was sentenced last month to 28 months in prison, after she admitted to acquiring drugs to terminate her pregnancy during lockdown when she was between 32 to 34 weeks pregnant.

The case sparked a major backlash from MPs, campaigners and members of the public who argued there was no public interest in jailing Ms Foster, and also led to calls for abortion to be decriminalised.

Following a ruling from the Court of Appeal, Ms Foster’s sentence has now been reduced to a 14-month suspended sentence.

Sitting with two other judges, Dame Victoria Sharp said: “This is a very sad case, not least because of the length of the gestation when the offence was committed.

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“It is a case that calls for compassion, not punishment, and where no useful purpose is served by detaining Ms Foster in custody.”

She said there was “exceptionally strong mitigation” in the case.

Ms Foster, from Staffordshire was jailed at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court on 12 June.

The court heard she had moved back in with her ex-partner at the start of lockdown, while carrying another man’s baby.

She procured pills by post from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) after she had provided information that led staff to believe she was seven weeks pregnant.

Abortion is legal up to 24 weeks – but after 10 weeks, the procedure is carried out in a clinic.

She took the abortion pills on May 11 2020, after which emergency services received a call to say she had gone into labour. During the call, the baby was born not breathing, and was pronounced dead around 45 minutes later.

Ms Foster’s barrister, Barry White, said there was a lack of “vital” reports into Foster’s mental health when she committed the offence. He added that “the obvious impact of the pandemic added to Ms Foster’s already anxious state of mind”.

The Court of Appeal was told that the jail in which Foster has spent 35 days has refused to permit her any form of communication with her three children, one of whom is autistic.

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Mr White also argued that Ms Foster had voluntarily told police about her actions, adding that it was “highly unlikely that she would have ever been prosecuted” had she not done so.

Ms Foster was initially charged with child destruction and pleaded not guilty, before pleading guilty to a different charge of administering drugs or using instruments to procure an abortion.

The court previously heard that Ms Foster did not see a doctor about her pregnancy because she was “embarrassed” and didn’t realise how far along she was.

Justice Pepperall said Foster felt “very deep and genuine remorse”, was “racked with guilt” and still had nightmares over her actions.

Robert Price, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said the original sentence was not “manifestly excessive” and the judge had “correctly made allowances for mitigating factors in this unusually sensitive case”.

As well as the 14-month suspended prison sentence, Foster will also have to complete up to 50 days of activity.

Chief executive of BPAS Clare Murphy said she was “delighted” the mother would be released from prison and called for a change to the law.

“The court of appeal has today recognised that this cruel, antiquated law does not reflect the values of society today,” she said.

“Now is the time to reform abortion law so that no more women are unjustly criminalised for taking desperate actions at a desperate time in their lives.”

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