Shocked Brit gives birth in Afghanistan

A British soldier gave birth at army base Camp Bastion supposedly unaware she was pregnant...

A UK soldier has given birth while on tour in Afghanistan, apparently not knowing she was even pregnant. A baby boy was born on Tuesday at Camp Bastion, in the Helmand Province.

It is expected that the woman and her new-born child will be deported from Afghan to return to the UK. The Ministry of Defence has released a statement confirming that both “mother and baby are both in a stable condition”.

A spokesman for the MoD confirmed that officials were unaware the soldier was with child: “It is not military policy to allow servicewomen to deploy on operations if they are pregnant. In this instance the MoD was unaware of her pregnancy.”

The MoD added: “As with all medical cases, when the need arises, individuals are returned to the UK for appropriate treatment/care.”

The soldier is said to be part of the Royal Artillery, according to a report by the Daily Mail. Reports claim that the woman realised she was pregnant after visiting medics because of she was suffering stomach pains.

A BBC reporter has explained this is the first frontline birth, saying that undetected pregnancies are “rare”.

It is understood that many women are not always aware they are pregnant, as women can have different bump sizes, and also not all women’s menstrual cycle stops when they become pregnant.