'Improved support' offered to pregnant athletes - UK Sport

Pregnant athletes can depend on "increased and improved support" after guidance was enhanced, UK Sport said.

The latest update, external to support from 2021 contains resources and guidance on fertility, babies' sleep patterns, diet and breastfeeding.

Access to a new mothers' group for athletes, the Athlete Pregnancy Network, has also been made available.

UK Sport CEO Sally Munday said: "The welfare and wellbeing of athletes and their families is a top priority.

"Pregnancy is an important time in any woman's life and we hope that elite female athletes - and the SGBs [sports governing bodies] that support them - will benefit from the guidance and the wealth of useful and relevant information it includes.

"We will, naturally, continue to monitor the effectiveness of the guidance and would welcome feedback which could help inform future editions."

UK Sport's guidance is intended to provide support during pregnancy and post-childbirth and has been developed after consultation with athletes and sports, also drawing on research undertaken by Loughborough University into athletes' experiences of pregnancy.

England and Team GB hockey player Jo Pinner gave birth to her first child, Josh, in April and returned to training in September.

After using the guidance from Sport UK, Pinner became the first England hockey player to return to the fold after having a baby and she has plans to represent Team GB at the Paris Olympics in 2024.

Speaking about the support she received, Pinner told PA: "I think it's absolutely critical.

"We're athletes, we do training. That's our bread and butter, that's what we're here for. There is no (other) way athletes would be equipped with that knowledge.

"A big part of it was the medical side and safety, how to train safely, what's safe to do in training, what can I take supplements-wise, all these things.

"There's no way we could [even] be expected to be equipped with all of that knowledge. It gives athletes the confidence and trust that they are there, that there are many things less to worry about."

In a related matter, Great Britain's most successful female Olympian Dame Laura Kenny spoke to BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast this week about the struggles female athletes encounter when trying to get pregnant due to their lifestyle.

Kenny has won five gold medals and one silver across three Olympic Games and the mother-of-two is targeting her fourth Olympic Games in Paris.