Epidural Drug Death Mother 'Killed Unlawfully'

The mother of a newborn baby who was mistakenly given an epidural drug via an intravenous drip was unlawfully killed, an inquest jury found this week.

Mayra Cabrera, a 30-year-old Filipino theatre nurse, died three hours after giving birth to a son, Zac - who survived - at the Great Western hospital, in Swindon, Wiltshire, on May 11 2004.

Bupivacaine, a potent epidural anaesthetic, was wrongly fed into a vein in her hand when it should have been injected into the area of the spinal cord.

Mrs Cabrera, who came to Swindon from the Philippines in 2002, died from a heart attack caused by Bupivacaine toxicity.

The jury said sub-standard storage of drugs in the maternity unit of the Swindon & Marlborough NHS Trust had led to the death.

Midwife Marie To is alleged to have administered the drug but denied having done so in her evidence. Swindon & Marlborough NHS Trust had previously admitted liability.

Carbrera's death has now led to a change in her husband Arnel's status. With no wife working in Britain he is now facing deportation.

Arnel's solicitor, Seamus Edney, said: "Mayra's death automatically changed Arnel and Zac's circumstances," he added.

"We had to go back to the Home Office and ask for permission for Arnel to stay until 2009, or at least until after his wife's inquest.

"We never got a formal reply. We just got his visa back, extended until February 2008."

Zac has been looked after by family in the Philippines over the past few years as his father has travelled back and forth from the UK to stay abreast of investigations and pursue a civil claim against the NHS trust.

(GC)