The Olympics and FIFA are trying to better support ‘mum-aletes’ – what are Australian sports doing?

As the world’s best athletes head to Paris for the upcoming Olympics, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is trying to make it easier for new parents to compete at their best.

Led by an initiative from the IOC Athletes’ Commission, the IOC will enable, for the first time, a nursery for parent-athletes to spend time with their young children including private breastfeeding spaces.

Traditionally, children are banned from entering the athletes’ village where participants and coaches stay during the Olympics. But the IOC gesture represents a significant advancement in addressing the challenges faced by new mums as they return to sport.

The move follows FIFA’s recent introduction of new measures designed to support the wellbeing of players and coaches during pregnancy and after the birth of their children. This includes the addition of coaches receiving 14 weeks of paid maternity leave (whereas it was previously just for players) and additional considerations for parents seeking to adopt.

When it comes to supporting pregnant athletes and new mums returning to sport, what’s happening within Australia’s major sports?

The situation is complex and inconsistent

Three Australian Olympians – water polo player Keesja Gofers, marathoner Genevieve Gregson and kayaker Alyce Wood – recently detailed their experiences in returning to their respective sports ahead of the 2024 Olympics. But what’s sometimes missing from these narratives are official governing policies to protect and encourage similar athletes.

Some Australian sports are doing their part.

The AFLW, WNBL, Swimming Australia and Cricket Australia have guidelines explicitly for their players.

Further examples, such as the Victorian Pony Club, Football NSW, as well as the Gaelic Football and Hurling Association of Australia can be found after some digging.

And while the NRLW has policies in place, clarifications and additional negotiations were required to rectify additional considerations led by the Rugby League Players Association (RLPA).

And while netball was the first major team sport in Australia to establish a parental leave policy, job security was a significant impediment – the policy only protected athlete income until the end of their playing contract, which affected some players.

The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) also has guidelines on high performance sport and pregnancy.

It’s important all sporting organisations be proactive in supporting their athletes through this difficult juggling act of pregnancy, motherhood and sport.

How athletes are impacted

Without strong structures in place to support them, athletes can be disadvantaged in many ways.

Supportive postpartum return-to-play policies are important to minimise injury, enable athletes to maintain their income while expanding their families.

The barriers which need to be addressed include varying postpartum recovery times and the difficulty of managing motherhood and sporting demands. To make it work, athletes need more social support.

What does the research say?

Frustratingly, research in this space has historically been quite limited, with organisations often relying on lived or shared experiences of a few athletes.

With the growth of professional sporting opportunities for women, more elite athletes are being acknowledged as working mothers.

This growth has triggered broader discussions to identify best practices and address the difficulties women face returning to sport after pregnancy.

Fortunately, high-quality research is on the rise.

For athletes, comprehensive rehabilitation strategies have been recommended in the postpartum period.

In late 2022, researchers out of the AIS helped develop the “mum-alete” survey, which gathered perceptions and experiences of sport participation among high-performance pregnant or postpartum athletes.

The survey captured the experiences of athletes during pregnancy or returning to high-performance sport post-pregnancy and the resulting data, when released, should hopefully contribute to development of sport policies, structures, and processes to support the health and wellbeing of female athletes.

Key highlights from other recent research emphasises a variety of social factors impacting an athlete’s return to elite sport including childcare and access to maternity leave.

This growing body of evidence can then meaningfully aid sporting organisations in making informed decisions about their return-to-play policies.

Where do we go from here?

As of 2023, other international sporting bodies have launched maternity provisions.

The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) have a special ranking rule to provide players returning from maternity leave immediate opportunities to compete for higher prize money and ranking points instead of starting from scratch.

And the Rugby Football Union (RFU) have recognised the risks posed to pregnant players due to the physicality of the game and support their athletes into alternative employment within the rugby network until their leave begins.

Without these policies in place, dropping out of sport can sometimes feel like an athlete’s only option, which can have detrimental physical, social and emotional effects.

Adopting a biopsychosocial approach – combining biological, psychological and social factors – is a proactive example of perinatal athlete management.

Emphasis should also be placed on not just how the athlete was before their child but rather recognising what can be done to strengthen and re-conceptualise how the athlete adjusts and performs postpartum.

Hopefully progress continues to inspire a new generation of athletes that reflect on the excellence possible when we invest in mothers.