U.K. soldier who didn't know she was pregnant gives birth in Afghanistan

An armored vehicle patrols on the periphery of Camp Bastion in southern Afghanistan, Jan. 10, 2007 / AP

Updated 3:15 p.m. ET

(CBS/AP) LONDON - A British soldier who was complaining of stomach pains gave birth to a son while serving in Afghanistan at the same camp where Prince Harry is deployed and a Taliban attack last week killed two U.S. Marines.

Britain's defense ministry said Thursday the soldier told authorities she had not been aware she was pregnant and only consulted doctors on the day that she went into labor.

The birth in a combat zone field hospital is thought to be the first ever case of its type for Britain's military.

The Fijian national, a gunner with the Royal Artillery, delivered the child Tuesday at Camp Bastion, the major British base in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province, which last week suffered a major attack in which two U.S. marines were killed and six American fighter jets destroyed. She is one of about 500 British military women serving in Afghanistan, and also among around 2,000 Fijians who serve in the British military, even though the country became independent from Britain in 1970.

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Britain's defense ministry said Thursday that it had not been aware the soldier was pregnant, and stressed that it does not allow female soldiers to deploy on operation if they are pregnant. It declined to say whether the soldier, who has not been named, was aware of her pregnancy.

"Mother and baby are both in a stable condition in the hospital and are receiving the best possible care," the ministry said in a statement. It said a team of doctors would fly out to Afghanistan in the coming days to help the solider and her son return safely to Britain.

Although the soldier's child was conceived before her tour of duty began in March, she is not likely to face censure. Britain has sent female soldiers home from wars after they became pregnant - including about 60 from Afghanistan - but hasn't previously had a servicewoman go into labor in a war zone.

In 2009, the U.S. military in Iraq issued a policy that could punish soldiers who became pregnant there and their sexual partners - then quickly rescinded it after a storm of criticism.

Camp Bastion, which hosts the U.S. Camp Leatherneck, is home to the most of Britain's 9,500 soldiers in Afghanistan, including Prince Harry - who arrived there earlier this month to serve as an attack helicopter gunner.

Maj. Charles Heyman, a retired officer and author of "`The British Army Guide" said the unexpected birth would cause some concern at the base.

"This sort of thing makes life difficult for everyone else, but the important thing is the welfare of the female soldier. This could have gone wrong and we don't know if the attack on Camp Bastion might have forced the birth," Heyman said.

Heyman said it may have been "that the excitement of the tour masked the symptoms of the pregnancy."

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Belinda Phipps, chief executive of the National Childbirth Trust, a British parenting charity, also suggested the soldier's demanding duties could explain why she either didn't know she was pregnant or attempted to ignore the signs.

"It could be that she was so very focused on other things, and because she was in a life-or-death scenario, that she simply didn't recognize that she was pregnant," Phipps said.

Phipps said the pregnancy may not have been obvious to the soldier's colleagues. "Not everyone has a very big baby bump, some women carry their baby far inside," she said.

Patrick O'Brien, a consultant obstetrician at University College London Hospital, said cases of unexpected pregnancies were unusual but that he encountered at least one each year.

"There are some women who have very irregular periods, often women who are very fit and exercise a lot. There are women who don't have sickness during pregnancy. Some women - particularly those who are overweight - don't recognize they have put on weight, or feel the baby moving," O'Brien said.

Many cases involved women who refuse to accept that they were pregnant and attempted to disguise it, particularly young women living at home.

"It's not just that they hide the pregnancy from their parents, they often become in denial of the pregnancy," he said.

"If you have a combination of any or all of those things, a pregnancy can go undetected, or the woman can be in denial of it if the implications to their life are so great," said O'Brien, a spokesman for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologist.

A 2002 survey of Berlin hospitals between 1995 and 1996 found that about 1 in 475 pregnancies were either undetected or denied. About 40 percent of the women had seen a doctor while they were pregnant, who also failed to detect the signs.

[jo9y]

Ok, i'm a man so i'm not even going to try to comment on what it feels like to be pregnant, but how does this happen? Not the pregnancy part but the part about carrying a baby to term and not even knowing it. Ladies please respond.

[Jaylah54200]

You do hear, or read, every once in a while about a woman delivering a baby when she didn't even know she was pregnant.

I can't really fathom it myself, but that's not enough for me to decide it couldn't happen.

[Dancing-in-the-Streets]

I've carried 3 babies in my life. And it is near impossible for me to even contemplate that someone doesn't KNOW you have another human being inside of you! You'd have to be in a coma, not to notice the changes it puts you thru! : /

[EmpireGeorge______--]

and then birth the baby...... what's this ? I had no clue......and then I read "Mother and baby are both in a stable condition in the hospital ".......so she had no idea, then had the baby, and the baby isn't severely pre-mature, but it's stable and fine ???

Looks like I put weight on, only in the area of my womb, must be the beers....lol

[Dancing-in-the-Streets]

LOL

[Nala2012]

For a man or woman who has never been pregnant to be so shocked that she didn't know she was prengant is absurd because you have no experience as to what it really "feels" like to be pregnant. The baby may not have kicked, if she was very physically active and had very low body fat she may have been used to not getting her period, and some women show very little throughout their pregnancy-especially women of larger stature.

[rh0123]

Exactly. No one believes YMMV, but it does.

[Nala2012]

Read the 6th paragraph down:

"The woman had deployed to Afghanistan in March, meaning her child was conceived before her tour of duty began."

So what, it is impossible for a baby to be born 7 months into a pregnancy?

Sounds like the military has their hand in this story, trying to make is sound like there is no way this female could have had intercourse with a male counterpart while deployed, because of course that is against their policy. If that wasn't their motive then why would the story state that AT ALL?

[duzmafuzt]

OK, it is possible the lady did not know. She did not know. No biggie. This is the number one reason that the so-called "privilege" of combat does not need ladies on deployment. It is goofy, risky, and an IMMENSE distraction to the warriors on the front. Most of all, ladies in combat are not a necessity. They have much more to contribute, in importance, to the overall operations of combat than we give people credit for. This does prove, however, that the West is much better prepared for all forms of delivering power projection than can be fathomed!!

[rh0123]

You mean, because men are stupid, they can't do support roles as well?

Or do you mean, the low quality of men who enlist can't look at a female, dressed in an extremely unbecoming uniform, without wanting to plook her?

I actually know many men who don't want to sleep with all women they see. I guess you don't.

[FemVeteran]

Women are so tough, they give birth in combat zones! I served in two wars and out did many of male coworkers. Why? Because as a woman in the military you have to work twice as hard as men to even be considered a hard worker. I'm not gonna lie, I kinda kicked butt out there and when men say women distract it makes me laugh because it's probably because masculinity is threatened by strong femininity! :P

[eroteme2]

OK, but I am of the opinion that the military should not send women into combat zones pregnant or not pregnant I wounder if this might have been a virgin birth?

[AOCGUY]

I see that your mother never had a successful pregnancy. Too bad.

[xieksis]

What did she think that was kicking inside her stomach...??? Gas...??

[rh0123]

Uh, yeah, a baby kicking can seem like gas easily. One of mine was a definite kicker (now a football star LOL), but the other two just kind of moved, which was very like gas. The stereotype of every baby kicking the bejesus out of the mother is not true.

Also, some women carry small, especially if they are tall or have a long trunk.