Pregnant Women in Sport.

Pregnant Women in Sport

I have decided to study the important issue of pregnant women in sport. This is a topic that affects nearly all sports in Australia mostly netball and basketball because they are the two most popular female sports in Australia. Netball has 505,000 female participants and basketball has 147,000 (source of statistics from www.abs.gov.au).

“They should not be able to play after they are five months pregnant or if a doctor advises them not to.” (Annette Hadges; 19/11/2002)

Until the last ten years it wasn’t looked at positively for a women to keep playing sport while pregnant. But due to the change in social attitudes a pregnant women isn’t looked at as stupid if she decides to continue playing sport; however there are risks to doing this. The main reason why people don’t want to see pregnant women in sport is because of the potential risk of abdominal injuries. I also think that it would be a tragedy to see a women lose her baby from a sports injury she could have avoided. Sporting associations that have pregnant women playing may face lawsuits or compensation claims if a women was to be injured and lose her baby. Sporting associations would need to advise a solicitor about getting the pregnant player to sign a form that indemnifies them from compensation claims if that player is injured. There are no actual legal rules that can currently stop pregnant women from playing sport. The Australian Sports Commission has decided to not make a concrete rule but rather a policy that outlines human rights issues, insurance, liability and negligence. A classic example of a popular woman playing sport at an elite level is Melbourne Thunderbirds goal-shooter Jacqui Delaney during the 1997 season, which announced she was four months pregnant after the season finished. During the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, beach volleyball player Anita Palm was three months pregnant with her first child and still decided to compete in her sport at a world-class level. The WNBL has made a statement regarding pregnant athletes playing basketball at national level. It summarises that, “the League will not ban a woman from participating at elite level but athletes must keep them advised on doctors’ reports and their general physical and emotional state.”

Many doctors around Australia have agreed that a miscarriage from playing sport is unlikely if women are careful not to take heavy bumps or falls; but doctors say that even a fall won’t harm a woman’s baby.

“Although trauma to a mother and baby is a theoretically potential risk during sport, there is no published information about the magnitude of this low risk.” (Associate Professor Caroline Finch, Deakin University)

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“The advice of Sports Medicine Australia, the Australian Medical Association, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Australian College of Sports Physicians is that it is very unlikely that continuing to participate in most sports could result in a miscarriage. They also consider that it is very unlikely that a sporting injury or a fall could cause a miscarriage”

Many women around the country play netball and basketball and all of those players and also supporters would have a valid opinion about this issue. As someone who follows sport I think that it should be up to the woman to decide whether she plays or not. I also believe a rule should apply to women who are more than five months pregnant or if they are told by a doctor it would be unsafe to continue playing. If an elite sportswoman is going to have a baby and still wants to play in their respective sports they should plan the pregnancy for the off season. But sources say that a woman with a healthy pregnancy can start or maintain a fitness program without affecting the unborn child in any way.

A woman’s pregnancy is broken up into three three-month periods and these are called trimesters. During these trimesters the foetus is in different positions in the mother’s womb. In the first trimester (3 months) the foetus is contained in the pelvic girdle that protects it from blows to the abdominal. When a woman enters the stages of the 2nd and 3rd trimester the foetus moves higher in the abdomen, which makes it more vulnerable to direct blows to that region. Doctors agree that the risk of an injury in the first trimester is extremely unlikely, but later on it can become dangerous and woman are advised not to play contact sports.

My personal opinion is based upon a rule and the respective players decision. The rule should state that woman past [something] months pregnant are not eligible to play. Obviously the rule would need to be modified for different sports. Pure non-contact sports such as golf should be at the women’s discretion; therefore no rule should apply here. But a sport like basketball, where falls and bumps are a normal part of the game, should have a concrete should that bans pregnant woman after being more than 3 or 4 months pregnant, also depending on the health and fitness of the player and baby.

If this rule were to go ahead it would have to be changed when used in different sports based on contact levels. It wouldn’t be a quick and easy task because it would have to be discussed among the whole national executive committee for that sport. If it were to go ahead it would benefit both the player and the association because of the risk of injury factor. Players would still get to play for a certain amount of time but it would be obvious that a golfer would play longer than a basketball player.

Due to the large numbers of women playing sports there is a higher demand for this issue to be dealt with accordingly. This can’t be left in the dark because it will always be there; sporting bodies can debate about it as much as they want but until a concrete decision is made the issue is just going to stay unresolved.

Bibliography

Sports Medicine Australia – Official Website

- Australian Bureau of Statistics

Netball Australia – Official Website