A British soldier served on the front line in Afghanistan while she was seven months pregnant, it was revealed today.

Sources said Private Kayla Donnelly, 21, did not know she was carrying her baby while fighting in Helmand province from March to September last year.

The soldier from 12 Logistic Support only discovered she was pregnant with her son Josh when her contractions began while on holiday in Tenerife.

She thought she had gained weight while in Afghanistan due to the pressure of...more >> A British soldier served on the front line in Afghanistan while she was seven months pregnant, it was revealed today.

Sources said Private Kayla Donnelly, 21, did not know she was carrying her baby while fighting in Helmand province from March to September last year.

The soldier from 12 Logistic Support only discovered she was pregnant with her son Josh when her contractions began while on holiday in Tenerife.

She thought she had gained weight while in Afghanistan due to the pressure of serving on the front line.

Pte Donnelly, of Penrith, Cumbria, gave birth just two weeks after leaving Afghanistan.

Josh's father, Pte Aaron McMillan, was in Afghanistan at the same time as Pte Donnelly, but is now back home in Manchester.

She is believed to have been the most heavily pregnant servicewoman to serve in Afghanistan.

It is Army policy not to send pregnant soldiers to the front line and to return them home immediately if they become aware they are carrying a baby.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: ‘We wouldn't comment on individual circumstances.’


Frontline: Between January 2003 and February 2009, at least 102 British servicewomen posted to Iraq had been sent home after it was found they were to become mothers (file picture)



No sex please, there's a war on...

The Ministry of Defence launched a campaign last year warning female soldiers to carry condoms after an alarming number of pregnancies at bases in Afghanistan.

Adverts in the Army’s official magazine Soldier warned ‘on deployment, there’ll be 50 blokes to each woman’ and urge female squaddies, medics and administrative staff to use a condom or ‘face something you really don’t want to hear'.

Officially, a ‘no-touching’ rule bans military personnel from having sex in a war zone.

But, according to senior officers, provided sexual relationships are between soldiers of a similar rank and do not impact on operations, commanders often turn a blind eye.

However, if, for example, a female nurse was caught having sex with a senior officer, both would face serious disciplinary action and could be thrown out of the Army.

Once female soldiers become pregnant, they are flown home immediately, because rules bar expectant mothers from frontline service.

A Freedom of Information response revealed that between January 2003 and February 2009, at least 102 British servicewomen posted to Iraq had been sent home after it was found they were to become mothers.

Over the same period the number of female soldiers who had discovered they were pregnant while in theatre in Afghanistan was 31.


WOMEN IN THE ARMY

Total number of women: 17,900

Total number of officers: 3,670

Total number of other ranks: 14,230

Total of all personnel: 196,650

Percentage of female officers: 11.2%

Percentage of other ranks: 8.7%

Total percentage of women in Armed Forces: 9.1%

Women can specialise in all areas except those where the primary duty is 'to close with and kill the enemy'.

Consistent with the UK's policy on the employment of servicewomen, they can be deployed alongside their male counterparts and there are no restrictions (except as above) unless they are pregnant.

Between April 30 and October 31 in 2009, ten pregnant servicewomen were sent home from Afghanistan.

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