Military service and motherhood: how the state responds to the needs of women in the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Despite the fact that women at the front have long been not an exception, but a reality of modern war, Ukrainian legislation has only recently begun to pay attention to their special situation. Draft law No. 13436 on ensuring fair and safe conditions of service for pregnant servicewomen and those raising minor children appeared only at the end of June 2025. Considering the fact that since 2014, tens of thousands of women with weapons in their hands have been defending our country, they still do not have clear legal protection and are forced to choose between service and motherhood without state guarantees of safety for themselves and their children.
Military service of pregnant women and mothers: the first step has been taken
Bill No. 13436 finally formulates what should have been the norm a long time ago: service in the army must take into account the life circumstances of servicemen, especially when it comes to pregnancy or raising young children. The initiative proposes specific rules that protect not only the rights, but also the health and safety of servicewomen and their families. According to the new draft law, it is proposed to normalize the service schedule: a five-day working week with two days off. Nothing extraordinary, but for the army, where the norm often blurs the line between work and survival, this is an important step. A pregnant servicewoman cannot be sent to deployment, combat duty, business trip or other dangerous tasks without her consent. Such decisions are made only after consultation with military doctors. If the conditions on the spot do not correspond to the safe performance of duties, the commander is obliged to transfer the woman to another unit where these conditions are ensured. This is not a “relaxation”, but an elementary understanding that bearing a child and service should not be in conflict due to the indifference of the system.
The bill also protects those who serve as sole or primary caregivers. A father or mother who has a child under the age of 3 or is raising him or her independently cannot be involved in dangerous or long-term tasks without consent. The same applies to one of the parents, if the other is already on a business trip or deployment, and they have a child under 14 years old. In other words, the new regulations should stop the practice, when both parents are taken out of the rear at the same time, and the child is left without proper care.
Another fundamental change concerns transfers and assignments to positions that require relocation. If the service involves a break with the child’s place of residence, the father or mother has the right to refuse. Finally, not only the interest of the army is taken into account, but also the interest of the child.
As you can see, this draft law is not just about benefits, but about sound logic: a person who serves should not be perceived as an incorporeal unit. She has a family, physical limits, and personal circumstances. And if the state wants to have a strong, stable army, then it is necessary to learn not only to demand, but also to support.
The number of women in the Armed Forces of Ukraine is steadily increasing. As of today, for data According to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, 68,000 women serve in the ranks of the Armed Forces, of which more than 48,000 have the status of military personnel. More than 5,500 of them perform tasks directly on the front line. Compared to the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine, this number has increased by 20%.
Military women work with weapons, rescue the wounded, hold heaven and earth, and some of them also raise young children or carry a new life under their hearts. But as soon as the servicewoman learns that she is pregnant, another war begins for her: not with the enemy, but with an indifferent system. Yes, the rights, benefits and social guarantees are really written down in the legislation. There are orders from the Ministry of Defense, there are clear wordings in the Code of Labor Laws, there is even a ban on discrimination. But in practice, all this works with a delay. There are still no special conditions for pregnant women in military units. There is no appropriate uniform, convenient equipment, and sometimes even a rudimentary understanding on the part of the commanders that pregnancy does not mean that now a person “needs to be written off”, like a material whose warranty period has come to an end.
It is worth admitting that the attitude towards a pregnant military woman is still often based on stereotypes: they say that she has already “fallen out”, “is incapable of fighting”, “it is better if she goes home”. Such logic destroys professional dignity and nullifies a woman’s contribution to the service, because pregnancy is not a disease or a reason to cross out years of training and experience. This is a condition that requires not pity, but a systematic approach and healthy support.
Bill No. 13436, which has finally reached consideration in the Verkhovna Rada, is designed to eliminate these failures. But the very fact that such an initiative appeared only now, when women have been serving on an equal footing with men for years, speaks of deep institutional blindness. While the reports on “gender equality” are beautifully drawn up in folders, pregnant military personnel and mothers of young children are forced to “bite out” human conditions on their own. For some reason, they forget that professionalism does not disappear with the appearance of a second heartbeat in the body. The state should not just recognize this, but clearly take it into account in regulations, in logistics, in the decision-making system on the ground. Because true equality is not contained in words in the law, but in respect for real lives.
How the military uniform ignores the needs of pregnant women
In the military system, imprisoned under the “standard soldier”, pregnancy is still perceived as a problem, and not a normal stage of life. Most units still do not have basic conditions: no special uniform, convenient equipment, possibility of transfer to the rear or medical support. Often a woman remains on combat duty simply because there is no formal ban. A woman can find out about pregnancy already during service in a combat position and not have any algorithm of actions. Often, a pregnant woman is not taken out of the front line, because there is no mandatory norm that obliges to do so. She can be left in the formation or sent to the outfit until she herself writes a report or receives medical confirmation of the threat.
Many units still do not have special clothing or equipment that takes into account the physical changes during pregnancy. It’s not about what “sits beautifully”, but the ability to breathe, run, shoot and not think about something pressing or slipping somewhere. For a long time, women in the Armed Forces had to adapt men’s clothing. Although clothing in combat conditions is not a matter of aesthetics, but of safety. And only now little by little, thanks to volunteer initiatives, the situation began to change and thousands of sets of women’s uniforms were sent to the front free of charge.
This is not just a new cut, but a separate line developed based on real feedback from servicewomen. The uniform is adapted to women’s physiology, made of fire-resistant fabric that will not tear or unravel after several field trips. The set depends on the season and includes underwear, thermal clothing (demi-season or winter), summer field suit (CLP), ubaks or tactical polo, insulated jackets, winter pants and peacoats. Also, a uniform for pregnant military personnel is already being developed, so as not to force them to look for or sew something “for themselves”. But such actions should not be an initiative of volunteers, a “bonus” or a “perk”. After all, a woman is not a temporary guest in the army, but the same part of the combat team as a man.
Similarly, mothers with young children serve on equal terms with everyone, regardless of whether there is someone left with the child at home. Therefore, women who raise children themselves are forced to balance the demands of the army and the needs of the family. However, the system continues to involve them in rotations, combat missions and long business trips, as if they have no responsibilities outside of the service. Often, both parents are in the service, and the army does not coordinate whether they go on a business trip at the same time. As a result, the minor child remains without proper care. The risk here is obvious, but the system does not react to it.
Formally, there are social guarantees: a ban on dangerous work, restrictions on physical activity, maternity and childcare leave. However, the actual implementation of these norms depends on the specific unit, the commander, and the capabilities on the ground. There is no proper support from psychologists, lawyers or doctors. Women are independently looking for ways to “get out” of combat missions, to prove the need for transfer or alternative service, which, of course, creates additional tension, distrust of the command and loss of personnel.
It is obvious that draft law No. 13436 finally recognizes that military service is not only about physical readiness, but also affects a large number of life circumstances that the state is obliged to take into account. But even the most well-thought-out legislation will not work if it rests against a wall of stereotypes. One of these stereotypes is the so-called “maternity employment”. This term, which has been around for a long time in the military environment, often becomes a label for women who go on maternity leave shortly after signing the contract. Because of this perception, mistrust, prejudice and the inability of the system to work flexibly with human resources were mixed.
If one decree is followed by another, then we are talking about several years of “falling out” from the rotation. And here comes the classic: “the place is idle, someone has to do the work for it.” This narrative puts all women in the military under attack, regardless of their intentions or plans. Fighters on the front line, who risk their lives every day, are forced to prove that “they are not one of those people”, because the shadow of the stereotype has already fallen. Such an atmosphere fuels internal misogyny, when mistrust and tension are formed even between women due to the “average image of a maternity nurse”. However, it is worth looking back at the numbers, and the myth begins to crumble. Last year, slightly more than 2,300 servicewomen were on maternity leave. This is only 7.1% of the total number of women in the Armed Forces and only 1.1% of the entire number of the Ukrainian army. That is, the scale of the problem, to which it is so convenient to write off personnel gaps or logistical inconveniences, is the exception rather than the rule.
In addition, it is important to mention the other side of this debate, which concerns the discrimination of men. Male servicemen in Ukraine do not have the opportunity to take paternity leave. That is, even if he has a newborn child in his arms, and his wife cannot fulfill his duties, he still has no legal right to focus on the family. Such a norm is not only outdated, but also directly violates the principle of equality.
So we have a strange situation: women are condemned for the fact that they “can go on maternity leave”, but men are simply not allowed. Both point to systemic inflexibility that needs to be broken. The army should not be a place of punishment for biological or family circumstances, it should be a place where the ability to serve is determined not by stereotypes, but by real actions and adequate support. It is because of these legal, organizational and cultural distortions that a pregnant servicewoman or mother often finds herself in a situation of a double struggle: for the state and for the right to be herself in a system that is still learning to respect it. Bill No. 13436 can be the first step towards changing not only the legislation, but also the mindset within the military.
Attitudes towards women in the world’s armies
While Ukraine is just beginning to form the basic conditions for pregnant military servicewomen, in some countries this topic has come a long, sometimes painful, but important way. The history of the American army is an example of how you can learn from the mistakes of the system and gradually abandon the discriminatory logic. Until the 1970s in the United States, pregnancy for a female military officer automatically meant goodbye to her career. A kind of “biological disability” in the eyes of the system: you are no longer incapacitated, and therefore released.
Only later, when social and legal movements began to put pressure on the military command, women received the right not only to remain in the army during pregnancy, but also to continue serving in their positions, without a “career minus” on the file. Another demonstrative step was the decision of 2011, when the Pentagon finally developed a female army uniform adapted to anatomical features. That is, in the USA, women wore men’s pants and jackets for more than 60 years. Edition The Independent then aptly called it “a revolution that should have happened yesterday”. In 2021, another new evolutionary step was taken. The US Navy has created special flame-resistant coveralls for pregnant pilots that allow them to stay in service even during the second trimester.
The uniform is tested by the Air Force and has already received favorable reviews: it is safe, adapted to the pregnant body, and looks professional. This approach emphasizes that the army values a woman not in spite of, but together with her motherhood. Before that, women were forced to buy a form several sizes larger and sew it themselves. Not only is it uncomfortable, it’s also dangerous: wide sleeves and pant legs that catch on equipment pose a direct risk in combat or technical environments. In Ukraine, meanwhile, a pregnant servicewoman is still often forced to fit into a standard uniform that is not adapted either to her condition or to the real conditions of the performance of duties.
In the British army, pregnancy is not perceived as a woman’s personal problem, but an official reality for which there are clear protocols. There are official instructions for commanders on how to organize service for servicewomen in this condition. A woman automatically receives a status that exempts her from combat training and is transferred to safe tasks without health risks. Internal support networks also operate in the country. For example, the Army Parents’ Network or the Defense Breastfeeding Network, which provide access to information, protection of rights and adjustment after returning from maternity leave.
In Denmark, each army unit conducts an individual risk assessment for pregnant women. This is not left to the discretion of the commander, does not fall on the shoulders of the woman herself, but is the responsibility of the system. Only after such an assessment is it decided whether the servicewoman can be kept in her current position or should be transferred. This approach is not only humane, but also functional, because it allows you to keep female professionals in the system without turning pregnancy into a career trap.
The French army is betting on a balance between service and parenthood. There is no “black mirror” of choosing between a child and a career. Civil servants can receive long-term parental leave of up to three years with the right to keep their place of service. And public nurseries and relocation support help families stay together even when duties are in different regions.
Despite the fact that women have long been a part of the Israeli army, one of the few countries where conscription is mandatory for both sexes, even there the system did not immediately begin to perceive pregnancy not as a “deviation from the norm”, but as a part of human life. A few decades ago, a pregnant servicewoman was automatically dismissed from service. This was perceived as incompatible: a servicewoman had to either follow orders or give birth to a child, and there was simply no place for “both”.
Today the situation looks different. Israel learned to work with this experience not through declarations, but through practical steps. If a woman in the army becomes pregnant, she is not sent home, they say, “now you are incapable.” Instead, she is offered alternative service options adapted to her state of health and can continue to perform tasks in the rear or administrative sector. All this is carried out at will and medical indications. At the same time, her decision does not become a public matter: confidentiality is an important principle. A pregnant military woman in Israel does not have to explain to the commander why she no longer goes out in night clothes or why she should be transferred, because all decisions are made through medical commissions. And such an approach is perceived as respect, not condescension.
The Israeli army even provides that after the birth of a child, a woman is automatically released from reserve service. The state does not place motherhood in opposition to defense capability, but on the contrary, recognizes it as a valid reason for exemption from obligations. It also means that a woman will not be in a situation where she can be called up for training or in a war zone, leaving her baby at home. Another important point concerns prevention. The Israeli army has introduced special programs of information and access to contraception to minimize the number of unplanned pregnancies among conscripts. And it works: statistics have decreased, which again indicates a systematic approach, and not solving problems “on the ground”.
And even changes have been taken into account in the uniform: there is a special uniform for pregnant women, taking into account the shape of the body, safe, protected, and not “sewn over the eye”. The Israeli experience shows that there is no fear of considering a woman in the army not only as a soldier, but as a person with a full range of life scenarios, including motherhood. This approach is also lacking in the Ukrainian army. We do not need conditional “benefits” or “relaxation”, but we need a humane, modern understanding that the army should be perceived not only from the point of view of weapons, but also as life in all its diversity.
When a woman in the army wears a bulletproof vest and a child under her heart, this is not a weakness of the system, but its litmus test. Because the strength of the army is not only in technology and discipline, but in the extent to which it sees a person in uniform. As long as the military service in Ukraine considers motherhood as an inconvenience and not as a reality, we are losing not only personnel, but also trust.
Bill No. 13436 creates an opportunity not only to update the regulatory framework, but also to send a clear signal: a woman’s service in the army has full value, her life needs protection, and motherhood should not be considered an obstacle to the military system. Now the question is whether the state is ready not just to adopt this law, but to implement it. And if a woman is able to protect the state, then she should also be able to protect it.
