Soldier surprised to give birth in Afghanistan

LONDON -- Hours after a British soldier in Afghanistan told medics she was having stomach pains, the Royal Artillery gunner unexpectedly gave birth to a boy -- the first child ever born to a member of Britain's armed forces in combat.

The British Defense Ministry said yesterday that the soldier said she didn't know she was pregnant and saw a doctor only on the day that she went into labor.

The soldier, who arrived in Afghanistan in March, delivered the child Tuesday at Camp Bastion, the vast desert base in Helmand province in the south, where Prince Harry is deployed and a Taliban attack last week killed two U.S. Marines.

"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 to Afghanistan in the coming days to help the soldier and her son return safely to Britain.

The U.K. does not knowingly allow pregnant soldiers to deploy, but this soldier 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issued a policy that could punish soldiers who became pregnant there, as well as their sexual partners -- then quickly rescinded it after a storm of criticism.

The British soldier, a citizen of Fiji, is among about 500 British military women serving in Afghanistan. There are about 2,000 Fijians who serve in the British military, even though the country became independent from Britain in 1970. -- AP