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The maternity military: How nearly 100 female soldiers have been sent home from front line after getting pregnant
Nearly 100 female British soldiers have been sent home from Afghanistan after finding out they were pregnant.
Between January 2006 and December last year, 99 servicewomen on operations have been flown back to the UK under strict military rules that ban mothers-to-be from serving in a war zone.
According to figures released by the Ministry Of Defence, 16 women were removed from Afghanistan in 2013 due to pregnancy, while 18 were sent home in 2011.
The women were flown back on flights usually reserved for injured troops, meaning the true figure could be higher if other female soldiers came home via routine flights, according to The Sun.
Troops are repeatedly reminded by senior officers to check they are not pregnant before they fly to the front line, however, servicewomen are not forced to take a urine test before deploying because top brass consider it would be an ‘invasion of privacy
In September 2012 it was revealed that Lance Bombardier Lynette Pearce, then 28, gave birth to a son at the field hospital in Camp Bastion, four days after the base was attacked by the Taliban.
Front line: Servicemen and women at Camp Bastion stand at ease before their Armistice Day parade
The Fijian-born junior non-commissioned officer in the Royal Artillery had a healthy boy five weeks prematurely, not knowing she was pregnant.
She shocked military chiefs when she became the first UK soldier to have a baby on the battlefield, naming the child Immanuel Izadore Pearce.
Speaking after the birth, Lance Bombardier Pearce's mother Sugar said her daughter met the baby’s father in the UK after joining the Army.
After the birth she and Immanuel, who weighed a healthy 5lb 8oz, were flown to the UK and treated at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.
And in February 2011 it was revealed how how Private Kayla Donnelly, then 21, served on the front line in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province while seven months pregnant. She had conceived before going to the war zone.
Pte Donnelly, from Penrith, Cumbria, who serves with 12 Logistic Support Regiment, put the changes to her body and weight gain down to high-calorie army rations and the stress of war. She only realised she was expecting two weeks after she returned home and gave birth to son Josh.
The figures were revealed following a request under the Freedom of Information Act.
'Pregnant women are not allowed to be deployed on operations,' an MOD spokesman told MailOnline.
'The small numbers of personnel who discover that they are pregnant on operations are returned at the first convenient opportunity.
'The MOD does not encourage or condone sexual relationships in theatre; our personnel are expected to behave in accordance with the Armed Forces values and standards at all times.'
The women all discovered they were pregnant while in Afghanistan, although it is not known if any of the babies were conceived there.
Servicemen and women are warned that the Ministry of Defence does not approve of sexual relations between troops and that any inappropriate behaviour would breach standards guidelines.
Those caught having sex usually face a rebuke from their commanding officer or more serious disciplinary action, depending on the rank and position of those involved.
Restricted: Although they can serve on the front line, women are not permitted to perform roles where the 'primary duty is to close with and kill the enemy'
Servicemen and women get three weeks off before they deploy to Afghanistan and two weeks rest and recuperation during their tour of duty.
Deployments to Afghanistan usually last between six and seven months, although with combat operations set to end later this year some tours have been extended to nine months.
At least 102 servicewomen were sent home from Iraq after finding out they were pregnant, before British forces withdrew from the country in 2009.
Read more: The maternity military: How nearly 100 female soldiers have been sent home from the Afghan frontline after getting pregnant | Mail Online
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
I remember some member questioning how Pakistan allows women in military and air force...and the issues if faced by enemy and stuff...
well:
- Between January 2006 and December 2013 99 servicewomen sent home
- Military rules ban mothers-to-be from serving in a war zone
- 16 women were removed from Afghanistan in 2013 due to pregnancy
- In September 2012 Lynette Pearce gave birth at Camp Bastion
Nearly 100 female British soldiers have been sent home from Afghanistan after finding out they were pregnant.
Between January 2006 and December last year, 99 servicewomen on operations have been flown back to the UK under strict military rules that ban mothers-to-be from serving in a war zone.
According to figures released by the Ministry Of Defence, 16 women were removed from Afghanistan in 2013 due to pregnancy, while 18 were sent home in 2011.
The women were flown back on flights usually reserved for injured troops, meaning the true figure could be higher if other female soldiers came home via routine flights, according to The Sun.
Troops are repeatedly reminded by senior officers to check they are not pregnant before they fly to the front line, however, servicewomen are not forced to take a urine test before deploying because top brass consider it would be an ‘invasion of privacy
In September 2012 it was revealed that Lance Bombardier Lynette Pearce, then 28, gave birth to a son at the field hospital in Camp Bastion, four days after the base was attacked by the Taliban.
Front line: Servicemen and women at Camp Bastion stand at ease before their Armistice Day parade
The Fijian-born junior non-commissioned officer in the Royal Artillery had a healthy boy five weeks prematurely, not knowing she was pregnant.
She shocked military chiefs when she became the first UK soldier to have a baby on the battlefield, naming the child Immanuel Izadore Pearce.
Speaking after the birth, Lance Bombardier Pearce's mother Sugar said her daughter met the baby’s father in the UK after joining the Army.
After the birth she and Immanuel, who weighed a healthy 5lb 8oz, were flown to the UK and treated at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.
And in February 2011 it was revealed how how Private Kayla Donnelly, then 21, served on the front line in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province while seven months pregnant. She had conceived before going to the war zone.
Pte Donnelly, from Penrith, Cumbria, who serves with 12 Logistic Support Regiment, put the changes to her body and weight gain down to high-calorie army rations and the stress of war. She only realised she was expecting two weeks after she returned home and gave birth to son Josh.
The figures were revealed following a request under the Freedom of Information Act.
'Pregnant women are not allowed to be deployed on operations,' an MOD spokesman told MailOnline.
'The small numbers of personnel who discover that they are pregnant on operations are returned at the first convenient opportunity.
'The MOD does not encourage or condone sexual relationships in theatre; our personnel are expected to behave in accordance with the Armed Forces values and standards at all times.'
The women all discovered they were pregnant while in Afghanistan, although it is not known if any of the babies were conceived there.
Servicemen and women are warned that the Ministry of Defence does not approve of sexual relations between troops and that any inappropriate behaviour would breach standards guidelines.
Those caught having sex usually face a rebuke from their commanding officer or more serious disciplinary action, depending on the rank and position of those involved.
Restricted: Although they can serve on the front line, women are not permitted to perform roles where the 'primary duty is to close with and kill the enemy'
Servicemen and women get three weeks off before they deploy to Afghanistan and two weeks rest and recuperation during their tour of duty.
Deployments to Afghanistan usually last between six and seven months, although with combat operations set to end later this year some tours have been extended to nine months.
At least 102 servicewomen were sent home from Iraq after finding out they were pregnant, before British forces withdrew from the country in 2009.
Read more: The maternity military: How nearly 100 female soldiers have been sent home from the Afghan frontline after getting pregnant | Mail Online
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
I remember some member questioning how Pakistan allows women in military and air force...and the issues if faced by enemy and stuff...
well:
