Pregnancy in the Army: 10 female soldiers sent back home to have babies

November 22, 2009 by Baby Chums
Filed under: News, Pregnancy

10 pregnant female British soldiers have been sent back home from operations during the past six months, though it’s unclear how many of the 10 became pregnant after being sent to war in Afghanistan.

Despite having no private bedrooms, the MoD, (Ministry of Defence) is likely to investigate whether breaches of sexual conduct rules occurred, the rule of a diverse and mixed sex British Army is, ‘no-touching’.

The MoD said, “It is not an offence for a Servicewoman to be pregnant,”

“But there is a code of conduct and it is to do with anything that would damage operational effectiveness.”

A spokesman added: “If women become or discover they are pregnant on operations, they are returned to the UK at the first opportunity.”

Lieutenant Colonel Robin Matthews, a former Army commander told the Sunday Mirror: “Together, both servicemen and women face an uncertain future and, as those bonds of war strengthen, inevitably relationships will develop.”

About 700 female soldiers make up around nine per cent of the British Army in Afghanistan.

The French Army has a far more relaxed view on sex: ”The basic rule is that if the service does not suffer, then sex is a private question,” said Maj. Henri Dumont, a spokesman for the Foreign Legion.

But even the French military can be shaken by certain forms of sex. In 1996, in Alsace, a 46-year-old noncommissioned officer in the military police and his wife were found to be performing public sex shows, sometimes filmed, in the bars of the town of Neuf-Brisach. A judicial inquiry revealed that the the couple’s exhibitionism had been delighting locals for several years and was well known to the military police.

The offending officer was briefly jailed. Other members of the military police unit were either transferred or took early retirement.

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Tags: Afghanistan, British Army, commander, exhibitionism, Foreign Legion, French Army, French military, Henri Dumont, Lieutenant Colonel, Ministry of Defence, Neuf-Brisach, offending officer, officer, Robin Matthews, United Kingdom

Comments

One Comment on "Pregnancy in the Army: 10 female soldiers sent back home to have babies"

andrew holden on Sun, 20th Jun 2010 5:57 pm

Not sure why you think this is a big deal. Serving on operational duties in Afghanistan does not provide a safe environment for prgenant women. The Army would be failing in its duty of care to allow the women to stay.

Also I see little practical difference between the French saying that “if the service does not suffer, then sex is a private question” and the British saying that “anything that would damage operational effectiveness” is out of order.

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