When a female elite athlete announces her pregnancy, she can prepare herself for a slew of congratulatory messages wishing her well — on her retirement. At least, that was a typical experience for many within a group of 20 female athletes participating in a recent University of Alberta study.
The surveyed athletes, who had either trained or competed at the elite level before and during pregnancy within the last five years, offered a critical first-hand perspective on an issue that has broad implications for women's participation in sport at all levels.
"They're not supported to do both," said Tara-Leigh McHugh. "They have to make that decision between being an athlete and being a mother."
It's a decision nearly every female athlete must reckon with at some point. As Margie Davenport explained, for females, the window of peak performance and the window for fertility overlap. Female athletes interested in having a family essentially face three options: continue to compete and risk missing the window to start a family, retire from their sport to become mothers or attempt to do both with little support and few resources available to them.
"Male athletes don't run into the same issues. The level of stress is unimaginable," said Davenport, an associate professor and former national team athlete whose research in the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation focuses on maternal and fetal health outcomes.
"I can't imagine a bigger gender equity topic in sport right now than this," added McHugh, a professor whose expertise in qualitative research was integral in gathering data reflecting the underrepresented voices of the female athletes.
"The voices of these women are essential. That is evidence," said McHugh. "It's essential for developing policy that's going to be relevant for these athletes."
Five key areas for better support
The study identified five key areas where actions could be taken to better support pregnant female athletes: pregnancy planning and fertility, pregnancy disclosure and discrimination, training pregnant athletic bodies, safety concerns, and a supportive network and equitable funding.
Davenport, who led the development of the 2019 Canadian Guideline for Physical Activity Throughout Pregnancy, acknowledged there is still research to be done in some of the areas, such as how to train pregnant athletes. Given their high typical training volume, the recommended 150 minutes per week in the guideline simply doesn't apply to elite athletes, but there remains a lack of evidence-based information to guide female athletes, their health-care practitioners and their coaching teams.
However, in other key areas shaped by the athletes' responses, "we already have all the information we need to move forward," according to McHugh.
"There are changes that could be made today that would make significant positive impacts on women and athletes in Canada, particularly around things like maternity leaves and funding supports," said McHugh, who has applied her sport research expertise to a variety of national sport-focused organizations.
