Pregnant soldier gives birth to baby boy in Afghan combat zone (+video)
Pregnant soldier: A British servicewoman became a mother Tuesday at Afghanistan's Camp Bastion, in the first instance of an active member of the British military giving birth in a combat zone.
London
A British soldier has given birth to a boy while serving in Afghanistan at the same desert camp where Prince Harry is deployed and a Taliban attack last week killed two U.S. Marines.
The birth in a field hospital is thought to be the first time a serving member of Britain's military has gone into labor in a combat zone.
The solder, a Fijian national serving as a gunner with the Royal Artillery, delivered the child Tuesday at Camp Bastion. The sprawling British base in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province last week suffered a major attack in which two U.S. marines were killed and six American fighter jets destroyed.
Britain's defense ministry said Thursday 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.
