Mother Injected With Wrong Drug "Unlawfully Killed" - 09/02/2008

An inquest jury has ruled that a new mother who was wrongly injected with an epidural was unlawfully killed. Maria Cabrera, a Filipino theatre nurse died less than 3 hours after giving birth to her first child at the Great Western Hospital, Swindon in May 2004.

The midwife on duty, Marie To is accused of administering Bupivacaine, an anaesthetic usually used in an epidural, directly via a drip into Cabrera's arm. Although she has denied this claim, the Swindon & Marlborough NHS trust have taken responsibility for the incident. A spokesperson issued an apology, saying: "This case should not have happened and I hope other hospitals will be able to learn from the bitter lessons we have learnt."

The trust was accused of gross clinical negligence by the jury, who blamed the death on inadequate storage of drugs on the maternity unit.
Having lost his wife, Arnel Cabrera currently faces deportation back to the Philippines with the couple's now 4 year old son.