Global mission for female athletes

Challenge

Elite female athletes have historically faced a difficult choice between pursuing a sporting career and starting a family.

For many years, limited research, insufficient policies and a lack of evidence-based guidance meant pregnancy was often viewed as the end of an elite sporting career. Many sporting organisations had no formal policies to support athletes through preconception, pregnancy, postpartum recovery or parenting. 

As women's sporting careers become longer and more professional, there is increasing demand for research that enables athletes to thrive throughout every stage of life without compromising their health, wellbeing or performance.

Solution

For more than a decade, Associate Professor Melanie Hayman has led research into female athlete health, specialising in exercise during pregnancy, postpartum recovery and elite sport participation.

Working closely with the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS), athletes, coaches and health professionals, CQUniversity researchers developed the AIS Best-Practice Recommendations to Support Elite Athletes from Preconception to Parenthood.

The AIS Parenthood recommendations provide a comprehensive framework to help high performance sporting environments better support athletes and staff who are pregnant, parenting, or planning a family. Recognising that parenthood should not be a barrier to participation or performance, the recommendations promote informed decision-making, flexible and inclusive practices, and consistent support across the athlete pathway. To support implementation, a suite of practical resources has been developed, including:

• screening and conversation tools
• planning checklists
• policy and communication templates
• referral pathways, and
• network directories that connect individuals with specialist health, wellbeing, and performance expertise. 

Together, these resources translate the recommendations into actionable practice, enabling sporting organisations to create environments where athletes and staff can confidently navigate parenthood while continuing to thrive in high performance sport.

Impact

Changing Australian sport

CQUniversity's research underpins Australia's first nationally endorsed recommendations supporting elite athletes from preconception through to parenthood.

The recommendations provide sporting organisations with practical, evidence-based guidance that supports athlete wellbeing while helping retain experienced female athletes within elite sport. 

Influencing international practice

Associate Professor Hayman's expertise is recognised globally through collaborations with organisations including:

• Women's Tennis Association Health Taskforce
• National Rugby League Women
• Australian Football League Women
• Netball Australia
• International Olympic Committee steering committee

Her research is contributing to international conversations on female athlete health, pregnancy and long-term participation in elite sport. 

Supporting athletes to thrive

By normalising pregnancy and parenthood within high-performance sport, the research is helping remove barriers that have historically limited women's sporting careers.

The work has the potential to improve athlete wellbeing, increase career longevity, strengthen gender equity and ensure future generations of athletes no longer have to choose between motherhood and elite competition.