Pregnancy, Performance, and Policy: Rethinking Support in Sport

In recent years, maternity support in elite sport has shifted from an overlooked issue to a central focus of policy development. Major initiatives such as the WTA Maternity Fund, introduced in 2025, and AC Milan’s groundbreaking policy in August 2024, which guarantees automatic one-year contract renewals for players who become pregnant in the final year of their contract, highlight a growing recognition of the need to better support athlete mothers. Combined with guidance released by UK Sport in 2023, these developments signal a broader cultural and structural change across professional sport.

At its core, a maternity policy is about ensuring that female athletes no longer need to choose between motherhood and their careers. For too long, pregnancy has posed a significant risk to an athlete’s livelihood, with the potential loss of contracts, funding, and sponsorship, often ending an athlete’s on-field career. Sport is fortunately moving away from this, with female athletes returning to the top levels of their sport after becoming mothers. This shift has been supported by strong, well-designed policies, allowing athletes to pursue both personal and professional ambitions without sacrificing one for the other. In a profession where careers are often short and tied to peak physical condition, this security is essential.

For a maternity policy to be effective in a high-performance setting, it must go beyond basic protections. Athletes require flexible support systems that recognise individual physical recovery timelines, mental well-being, and sport-specific performance demands. Every pregnancy and postpartum recovery is different, a holistic approach is critical. A standardised return date does not reflect the realities of elite sport and is not practical within the environment. Therefore, a flexible return-to-play framework is essential to support this. Returning to elite performance requires careful management of training loads, rehabilitation, and psychological readiness. Without clear, supportive structures, athletes may feel pressured to return too quickly to retain selection or financial support. This risks pushing athletes back into competition prematurely, increasing the likelihood of injury or long-term health consequences. Effective policies should instead prioritise gradual reintegration, giving athletes the time and resources needed to return safely and competitively, when they feel it is right for them.

Inclusive policy design is also crucial, and maternity frameworks must extend beyond the athlete who gives birth to include non-bearing parents, adoption, and those undergoing fertility treatments such as IVF. By recognising diverse pathways to parenthood, sports organisations can create more equitable environments that support all athletes and families.

To be effective, maternity policies need to be tailored to the sport. The physical variation between sports should be acknowledged, much like they are when an athlete recovers from an injury, for example, the physical demands associated with rugby will differ from those required by tennis or gymnastics, and therefore, the plan for reintroduction should reflect this. Additionally, whether an athlete chooses to compete whilst pregnant should ultimately be their decision; it will depend on the type of sport they are playing.  While fencer Nada Hafez competed in the 2024 Olympics while seven months pregnant, there are many sports where this would not have been a possibility, as they involve a higher risk or level of endurance. Generic policies fail to account for these differences and do not acknowledge an athlete's choice, both while pregnant and after giving birth, as to when they stop and return to competition. To be effective, maternity support must be bespoke, reflecting the specific demands of each sport and the individual athlete.

Financial support is another key pillar. Maternity pay structures, whether statutory, club-funded, or league-funded, have to provide stability during pregnancy and recovery. Ultimately, while implementing comprehensive maternity policies requires significant investment, the increased funding in women’s sport in recent years makes this more achievable than ever.

These policies are not simply a welfare measure; they are a necessary evolution in modern sport. By adopting tailored, inclusive, and holistic approaches, organisations can ensure that athlete mothers are supported fully helping to redefine what is possible in elite performance.