A HOSPITAL has apologised to the family of a woman who died after being wrongly given an epidural in her arm instead of her spine.

Mayra Cabrera, a theatre nurse, died within an hour of giving birth to her son at the Great Western Hospital in Swindon. A police investigation later found the epidural anaesthetic had been injected into her arm.

Commonly used to relieve labour pains, the injections are supposed to be into the epidural space of the spinal cord. A spokeswoman for Swindon & Marlborough NHS Trust said yesterday: “Once the evidence was conclusive that there had been an error on our part, we immediately admitted liability and have continued to do so.

“We are deeply sorry for the grief we have caused, and although such incidents are very rare indeed we appreciate this can be of little comfort to Mr Cabrera and his family, who have shown great dignity throughout.”

Mrs Cabrera, 30, and her husband, Arnel, from the Philippines, came to work in Swindon in 2002. Mr Cabrera, 37, said a report indicated that staff noticed the mistake shortly after his wife’s death in May 2004, but he claims that, at the time, it was put down to a rare complication.

“The member of staff told me it happens one in a thousand cases, so it’s a very rare case,” he said. “I accepted that because he’s a member of the medical staff.

“After more than a year you find out that something went wrong and it happens all over again — the stress and pain. This will be engraved in my mind and my heart till the day I die.”

Mr Cabrera had accused hospital chiefs of deceiving him about the circumstances surrounding the death, which could have been ascertained far earlier.

Mrs Cabrera’s inquest was adjourned in November by David Masters, the Wiltshire Coroner, who ordered police to investigate.

Detective Inspector Ian Saunders, of Wiltshire Police, said an independent medical expert was reviewing the evidence gathered on Mrs Cabrera’s death.

The case file is to be scrutinised by the Crown Prosecution Service to “determine the extent of criminal liability, if any, that exists on the part of either the individuals concerned or the trust itself”, he said.

About 20 per cent of pregnant women in the UK have an epidural, which costs about £500 in a private maternity hospital but is provided free on the NHS.

A motion on whether women should pay for epidurals where there is a non-medical need caused controversy when it was debated by midwives at their annual conference this month. The Department of Health responded by saying it had no intention of adopting such an approach.

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