Motherhood and the Modern Female Athlete: Balancing Identity, Opportunity, and Performance

For many elite female athletes, the journey to motherhood intersects with high-performance sport in complicated and confronting ways. Despite increasing visibility of athlete mothers—think Allyson Felix, Serena Williams, or Katrina Gorry—sport systems around the world still struggle to support women as they transition into motherhood and return to elite performance. This blog explores the psychological, physiological, and systemic challenges athlete mothers face, what the research says, and how coaches, organisations, and policy can do better.

The Psychological Shift: Identity and Motherhood

Becoming a mother is a significant identity shift—something that reshapes priorities, self-concept, and emotional landscape. For athletes whose sense of self is often tightly bound to performance, this transition can be jarring. Research suggests athlete mothers experience both tension and empowerment through this identity evolution. One study highlights the "dual career" challenges and identity renegotiation required as athletes balance elite sport and caregiving (Gigliotti et al., 2024).

Importantly, the psychological experience of motherhood in sport is not just personal—it’s cultural. Many athletes report feeling pressure to downplay their parenting responsibilities, fearing they’ll be seen as "less committed" or "distracted." As one paper aptly put it, athlete mothers often live within a “conflicted space between performance expectations and caregiving norms” (Pfister & Radtke, 2023).

Systemic Barriers: Playing Opportunities, Money, and Maternity Policies

Motherhood doesn’t just affect the athlete—it impacts how teams, sponsors, and sporting organisations respond. Maternity leave policies in sport are inconsistent at best, and many female athletes lack job security or clear guidelines around pregnancy, parental leave, or return-to-play. A 2023 review of sports governance policies in elite sport found that while some progress has been made, many governing bodies still lack formal procedures around parental rights or protections (Schlesinger & Weigelt-Schlesinger, 2023).

Without these structures, motherhood can become a career-ending event. Some athletes lose sponsorship deals when they become pregnant. Others miss key selection windows. While FIFA and the WNBA have recently introduced paid maternity leave and contractual protections, such models are not universal—and in many sports, female athletes are left to navigate these changes with little systemic support.

Physical Adaptation and Training Through Pregnancy and Postpartum

Pregnancy and postpartum recovery introduce major physiological changes, and navigating these while maintaining elite performance is no small feat. Athletes must consider factors like hormonal shifts, pelvic floor health, fatigue, and injury risk, all while staying competition-ready.

Emerging research is beginning to examine how to support training during and after pregnancy. A 2024 study in the Journal of Physical Education and Sport notes that female athletes require individualised training and rehabilitation programs that reflect trimester-specific demands and recovery timelines (Mitre et al., 2024). This means coaches and support staff must develop adaptable, evidence-informed protocols—and listen to the athlete’s body and voice.

Yet in many sports systems, these adaptations aren’t common practice. Athletes report having to "prove" they can still train, play, and contribute post-baby, often without access to sport-specific perinatal specialists or tailored medical care.

The Emotional Load and Specific Athlete Concerns

Elite athletes face unique emotional challenges during and after pregnancy. Some fear losing their place in the team. Others worry about long-term performance or body image. There are also practical concerns—breastfeeding schedules, travel, childcare logistics, and separation anxiety.

Recent qualitative research highlights the mental load carried by athlete mothers, who often juggle high training demands with sleepless nights and childcare duties (Gaston et al., 2022). Athletes describe feeling isolated or misunderstood in team environments, particularly when staff or teammates lack lived experience or empathy.

This emotional labour can lead to burnout, underperformance, or premature retirement. It’s essential that coaches, psychologists, and high-performance teams acknowledge and support these internal experiences—not just the physical or logistical barriers.

So, How Are Teams and Organisations Managing This?

There are some excellent examples of sporting systems leading the way. The Australian women's national football team (Matildas) is known for its inclusive culture and has implemented parental leave and support structures for player-parents. Similarly, Nike’s reversal of its controversial pregnancy clause in athlete contracts (after public backlash from athletes like Allyson Felix) is a powerful signal of cultural shift.

But these are still exceptions, not the rule. Teams and organisations must invest in proactive strategies, such as:

• Developing clear parental leave and return-to-play policies.

• Embedding flexibility into training and competition planning.

• Providing access to specialised medical, physiotherapy, and psychological care.

• Offering logistical support for athlete parents (e.g., on-tour childcare).

• Creating inclusive team cultures where parenthood is respected, not penalised.

Where To Next?

The intersection of motherhood and elite sport is a growing area of research. While historically underexplored, a rising number of studies now examine the experiences of athlete mothers, the gaps in policy, and the potential for systemic reform. Still, more data is needed—especially longitudinal studies tracking athlete wellbeing, performance, and retention across the motherhood transition.

For now, the message is clear: if we want to keep talented female athletes in sport—and support them to thrive—we need systems that value their full identity. That means championing both performance and parenthood.

Want to Learn More or Advocate in Your Team?

• Check out Athlete Ally and The Female Lead for advocacy resources.

• Read about Allyson Felix’s campaign for maternity protections in athlete sponsorship.

• Use Return to Sport guidelines for postpartum physical activity and injury risk management.

• Encourage your club or organisation to develop policies based on the UN Women Sports for Generation Equality Framework.

References (APA 7th)

Appleby, K. M., & Fisher, L. A. (2020). ‘Running back’ to sport: Motherhood and elite athletes. Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal, 28(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1123/wspaj.2018-0050

Clarke, N. J., & Harwood, C. G. (2014). Parenting experiences in elite youth sport: An interpretative phenomenological analysis. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 6(3), 309–329. https://doi.org/10.1080/2159676X.2013.796493

Gaston, L., Zourikian, N., & Benson, A. (2022). Athlete-mothers’ experiences of return-to-sport: Psychological load and social perceptions. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 63, 102139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2022.102139

Gigliotti, C., Bruner, M. W., & Schinke, R. J. (2024). The experiences of elite athlete mothers navigating identity and high-performance sport. Journal of Physical Education and Sport, 24(1), 277–286. https://doi.org/10.7752/jpes.2024.11277

Mitre, F. D., Voicu, R. M., & Predoiu, R. (2024). Training and performance adaptations in postpartum elite athletes. Journal of Physical Education and Sport, 24(1), 277. https://doi.org/10.7752/jpes.2024.11277

Pfister, G., & Radtke, S. (2023). Performance versus parenting: The double bind for female athletes. Sport in Society. https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2023.2270438

Schlesinger, T., & Weigelt-Schlesinger, Y. (2023). Pregnancy and parental rights in elite sports: A governance perspective. Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal. https://doi.org/10.1108/SBM-02-2023-0015

Toffoletti, K., & Palmer, C. (2021). New sporting motherhoods: (Re)imagining elite sport parenting. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 56(2), 147–163. https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690220902960