Mother paralysed after being injected with cleaning fluid during childbirth will win up to £5m in damages

Angelique Sutcliffe, 47, was given the botched epidural jab just before the hospital birth of her daughter seven years ago.

The blunder saw her suffer catastrophic neurological damage which has put her in a wheelchair for life.

Scroll down for more ...

Her fight for a payout reached the Appeal Court yesterday, which ruled she is entitled to a multi-million pound award. Judges reserved a decision on the final figure.

They were told that doctors gave Miss Sutcliffe the painkilling epidural because she was having such a traumatic time giving birth to Abigail at the University Hospital in Aintree, Liverpool.

But the needle was contaminated with chlorhexidine - a fluid used as a hospital antiseptic - and she had a severe reaction after safely delivering her daughter.

She suffered a severe headache, confusion, restlessness and was seen thrashing around on her bed.

Scroll down for more ...

Later she was diagnosed with chronic adhesive arachnoiditis, a severe inflammation of the brain membranes, which left her with no movement in her legs and limited use of her arms.

Ruling in Miss Sutcliffe's favour last April, Mr Justice Irwin said it would be impossible to establish exactly what went wrong.

He said there must have been some "lapse or breach of duty" on the part of the medical staff.

The chlorhexidine was on a trolley beside the operating table and experts said a small splash of the liquid may have contaminated the syringe prior to the epidural being administered.

It was speculated that this might have happened when a medic jogged the trolley.

Last year's High Court hearing led to a finding of negligence which was challenged by Aintree University Hospitals Trust yesterday.

Charles Feeny, for the trust, said the case was unique and the amount of chlorhexidine involved may have been as little as one tenthousandth of a litre - a droplet or smear.

He said it would barely have been visible to the eye and doctors could not be blamed for failing to spot it.

"It is unreasonable to put a clinician under a duty to notice any spillage, when it is as small as one ten-thousandth of a litre," he added.

He said there was a "pervading uncertainty as to what in fact happened" and the careful and experienced medics involved had wrongly been labelled negligent.

Lord Justice Buxton told Mr Feeny, however: "Your clients have absolutely no explanation as to how this happened. A very serious mistake was made."

The trust did not challenge the original finding that the blunder had been caused by contamination.

After two hours of legal argument, Lord Justice Buxton, sitting with Lord Justice Latham and Lord Justice Longmore, dismissed the trust's appeal.

They said the court would give reasons for its decision at a later date. A damages hearing will also be held.

Miss Sutcliffe, from Crosby, near Liverpool, burst into tears and hugged her family and friends when she heard the decision.

Her lawyers say the ruling means she will be entitled to compensation that will run to several million pounds.

A spokesman for the trust said: "We note that the court has reserved its judgment on the case and it would be inappropriate to comment at this stage."