By Joe Tidy, Sky News Reporter
Hundreds of thousands of health workers have gone on strike in protest at the Government's decision not to give them a 1% pay rise.
For the first time in history, midwives are joining picket lines outside hospitals and ambulance stations across the country.
But ambulance service providers say they may be forced to prioritise their care and are bringing in extra staff from the military to fill in the gaps.
Several trade unions will be involved in the action, including those representing nurses, paramedics, hospital porters and ambulance crews as well as the Royal College of Midwives (RCM).
The strikes could see around 400,000 refuse to work in England for four hours from 7am, with action planned later in Northern Ireland.
Contingency plans have been worked out, and union members will deal with emergencies.
The Royal College of Midwives will take part in the action for the first time in the organisation's 133-year history.
Cathy Warwick, the college's chief executive, said: "Midwives are caring people who often work long hours of unpaid overtime just to keep our understaffed, under-resourced maternity services running in the midst of a decade-long baby boom.
"They deserve this modest 1% pay rise."
Unions are protesting at the Government's decision not to accept the independent pay review body's recommendation to award a 1% pay rise to all staff.
Instead, ministers took the decision to award a 1% pay rise for those on top of their pay band but not to those on "progression pay increase", who automatically get a fixed average pay increase of 3%.
The unions say the number of NHS England health workers who will not benefit from the additional 1% is around 600,000.
In Wales, thousands of NHS workers will vote on whether or not to strike after a similar offer was made. In Scotland, all staff were granted the recommended 1% pay rise. No decision has been made in Northern Ireland.
The average annual private sector pay increase is currently around 2.5%, while last year it was recommended that MPs should see their pay increase by 11% by 2015.
Rob Webster, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: "We are working through some of the toughest times in the history of the NHS.
"A pay award for all staff on top of increments would have cost £450m more - the equivalent of 14,000 newly qualified nurses.
"Hard-pressed staff would have been put under greater pressure or may have had to be reduced."
NHS bosses say non-emergency appointments will be postponed during the strike and emergencies won't get ignored.
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