Army mother returns to UK with baby

A British servicewoman who gave birth while serving in Afghanistan is reportedly back in the UK with her baby.

Lance Bombardier Lynette Pearce - who is understood to have been unaware of her pregnancy - was rushed to Camp Bastion's infirmary with stomach pains on Tuesday.

The baby's birth is thought to have been five weeks premature and born in the base's £10 million field hospital, with the Military of Defence (MoD) earlier confirming "a specialist paediatric retrieval team" was sent to provide care on the flight home.

The MoD has not confirmed where the new mother and baby are, but it is believed they are in the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.

The 28-year-old servicewoman, who serves with the Royal Artillery, is reported to have left her home country of Fiji last year to fulfil her dream of serving in the British Army.

The keen sportswoman, who captained her national football team, is the daughter of a former policeman in the Fijian town of Nadi.

She had reportedly passed every fitness test while pregnant and completed all training, including a gruelling eight-mile march with a 25lb backpack.