Baby birth shock for soldier on Afghanistan deployment

[alp227]

A British servicewoman has given birth to a baby boy in Afghanistan having not realised she was pregnant.

"Mother and baby are both in a stable condition," said the Ministry of Defence, following the birth on Tuesday in Camp Bastion, Helmand province.

The woman, a Royal Artillery gunner who has not been named by the MoD, only learned she was about to give birth after complaining of stomach pains.

The child was conceived before she arrived in Afghanistan in March.

In a statement, the MoD said: "It is not military policy to allow servicewomen to deploy on operations if they are pregnant. In this instance the MoD was unaware of her pregnancy."

full: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19657646

How could she not know about being pregnant?

[MNBrewer]

1. It's a miracle!

[ecstatic]

2. "How could she not know about being pregnant?"

There's a show called I Didn't Know I was Pregnant that features women who didn't know they were pregnant until it was time to deliver. It's really fascinating!

[Selatius]

3. Some women will still have their period even when pregnant.

A woman I'm familiar with at work had the same thing happen to her. She was on the basketball team in high school years back, and she didn't know she was pregnant until about six or seven months in when she woke up and found her stomach had bulged out basically overnight.

[XemaSab]

4. Or women who are on the pill

where everything seems "normal" for them until SHA-ZAM!

[JI7]

5. i have heard of cases like this happening, but don't they feel the baby kick ?

and other difference in just feelings even if they are still getting their period ? or i guess they just assume it's something they ate ?

i haven't had kids so maybe i could understand more if i did.

[gkhouston]

10. One of my mom's friends had five kids and never felt them during the pregnancy.

Hard for me to imagine, as I definitely felt my munchkin move and can clearly remember one night when my husband and I laughed ourselves sick watching my belly heave. I have no idea what she was doing in there, but it probably would have gotten a medal at the Olympics.

[TheMadMonk]

13. You may NOT want to know. There's at least one instance...

...of a 32 week fetus being caught on ultrasound getting their jollies.

[gkhouston]

16. LOL. There was enough movement for her to have been having her jollies with a friend. n/t

[kestrel91316]

6. I think she is lying. NO WAY she didn't know. She probably knew

and wanted to deploy anyway for some reason, so kept her little secret until, well, the inevitable happened.

No woman in physical condition to be deployed (presumably not morbidly obese) could possibly remain ignorant of a fetus for NINE MONTHS.

[Tigress DEM]

9. 6 months PG - conceived in MARCH

IF she didn't know she was PG the baby may not even be all that viable or large.

Someone in our family delivered twins about 5 weeks premie and they were only 4 pounds each, but she was huge.

When I was 5 months pg, I'd LOST 30 pounds of me and only gained about 15 back in baby. Went from 18 to 16 to 13 maternity. But since I knew I was PG I was eating to try and grow the baby. Just wasn't eating junk and very busy with 3 jobs so I'd have enough money to stay home a few months.

My DIL is SKINNY and her baby bump didn't really look like much until about 4 months. She's tall with wide hips. She's due in January and still doesn't look really PG yet.

Every woman is different.

[Angry Dragon]

14. She deployed in March, pg before that

[Roselma]

7. My mom never was sure of her

six pregnancies until confirmed by her doctor, because she never missed a monthly period, and she didn't gain weight. When I was born, and I was her youngest, she weighed 120 lbs. Before she became pregnant she weighed 125 lbs. Stuff like that happens.

[lesgensvontgagner]

8. perfect

perfect

[JI7]

11. so is the Baby considered an Afghan National ?

or dual ?

[Warpy]

12. It can happen and it does happen more frequently than you'd think

In most cases, it's a heavier set woman with irregular menses. I've known a couple of cases personally and I can tell you they weren't hysterics or too stupid to know what was going on. Both were businesswomen, under quite a lot of job stress and thought the stress was interfering with the monthly menses. Other women have spotting every month all the way through the pregnancy.

It's easy to dismiss people who are outside the norm. Understanding is more difficult and the higher road to take.

I hope mom and baby are doing well.

[SheilaT]

15. I have heard of many such stories of women who didn't

realize they were pregnant until quite far along. My MIL always said she did not know she was pregnant with my husband until a good six months along. And he was at leas her sixth pregnancy. She had several miscarriages and still births, plus three living babies before my husband came along.

As someone who has had two babies, it was my personal experience that the changes that occur are quite profound and unmistakeable. I also think that "quickening", the feeling of movement is also unmistakeable. But if someone is absolutely convinced she cannot possibly be pregnant, all those symptoms will be ignored or denied, very effectively. As with my MIL. She was already 42 when my husband was conceived, and so the cessation of menses was attributed to menopause. I also understand that in very overweight women, other symptoms, such as the baby's movement, simply aren't as obvious.

Nonetheless, I honestly think there is always a fair amount of denial at work when a woman claims she had no idea she was pregnant until actually giving birth.