British soldier gives birth on frontline

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news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8535947/british-soldier-gives-birth-on-frontline

A British soldier has given birth while serving on the frontline in Afghanistan after not realising she was pregnant.

The 21-year-old female soldier, who has not been identified, gave birth to a baby boy five weeks premature at Camp Bastian in the Helmand province yesterday, The Guardian reports.

The woman conceived before flying to Afghanistan and passed the grueling pre-deployment training, with includes a 13km march and 8km run, without noticing she was pregnant.

She only discovered she was about to become a mother when she complained of severe stomach pains two days ago and medics told her she was in labour.

A senior army insider told the Daily Mail it was bizarre the solider did not notice the side effects of her pregnancy.

"The strains and demands on soldiers working on the frontline make it surprising she didn’t realise," they said.

"But the conditions of deployment, the different diet, the heat of the Afghan summer, the different hours of working, mean that many soldiers feel a little odd and put it down to the change of environment."

The soldier is a gunner with the Royal Artillery who helped provide covering fire to troops fighting insurgents and was deployed for a six month tour of duty in March.

The UK Ministry of Defence said both mother and baby were in a stable condition and would be flown home over the next few days.

Almost 200 British troops have discovered they were pregnant at war since 2003 but it is the first time a soldier has given birth while serving in Afghanistan.

The surprise birth has prompted military officials to call for extra medical checks for women that are sent to war zones.