The Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle has a shortage of anaesthetists to administer epidurals to expectant mothers, according to an investigation by the Daily Mail.

An epidural should be given to a woman within 30 minutes of her requesting one, according to recommendations from the Royal College of Midwives.

The Mail reports today that around 1,600 babies are born every year at the Cumberland Infirmary and a spokesman for the hospital said there were plans to restore the service.

The problem at the Cumberland Infirmary has been going on for three years. Expectant women are told there are no epidurals available because there’s a shortage of senior anaesthetists.

Epidurals numb the body from the waist down by injecting drugs into the spine.

Maggie Blott, vice-president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, says: ‘An epidural service should be a routine part of maternity care. There will be some women who are extremely traumatised by not having an epidural, particularly if they have a long and difficult labour. I think women who have such labours have psychological problems afterwards.’

Other pain relief is available at the Cumberland Infirmary but Dr Blott said it would not be as effective as an epidural and may have drawbacks.

The Trust had declined to give details about why epidurals were not provided at the Cumberland Infirmary but are available 40 miles away at the West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven.

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