A Marine gave birth aboard an amphibious assault ship in the Persian Gulf last month, The Washington Times reported Wednesday.

The May 23 birth of the 7-pound boy aboard the USS Boxer was the first time an active-duty woman gave birth to a baby on a combat ship in a war zone, Pentagon officials told the newspaper.

The Marine was identified only as a 33-year-old staff sergeant assigned to Headquarters Battery, 11th Marines as an administrative chief.

The mother and child are both healthy and in good condition. They are expected to be transferred to San Diego shortly.

Navy regulations require sailors and Marines to notify their commanding officers within two weeks of a pregnancy’s diagnosis, the paper reported. As a rule, pregnant women are not deployed to war zones.

The Washington Times reported the woman told her superiors she did not know she was pregnant. Although she was assigned to a ground unit, she was aboard the Boxer when she went into labor.

A Pentagon spokeswoman told the newspaper she had no data on the pregnancy rate among forces deployed for Operation Iraqi Freedom, which includes more than 25,000 women.

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