The challenge of returning to the elite after being a mother

Barcelona“I never would have imagined that having a daughter could mark my end at Sabadell”. The words of Maica García, published on social media on September 7th, left behind more than three decades of defending the colors of the Vallesan entity. Club Natació Sabadell had not renewed her contract, a decision that the player linked to her recent motherhood, but which the club attributed to “strictly sporting criteria”. Currently, García is already training with CN Sant Andreu, with the goal of participating in the Los Angeles Olympic Games. This story has once again brought to the table an issue that elite sports have not yet finished resolving: the place of motherhood in a sports career.

“An athlete should be able to consider becoming a mother without necessarily feeling that she is putting her sports career at risk”, intervenes Ana Merayo, a doctor in psychology specializing in sports. For her, motherhood should be incorporated as one of the great transitions in an athlete's career, like changing clubs, an injury, or retirement. This view is also shared by Sandra Escolà, a physiotherapist and physical trainer specializing in women's health and performance, who states that, although sometimes a postpartum period can involve fewer physical limitations than some injuries, “it is often treated very differently because there are many social and cultural factors surrounding motherhood”.

A body in transformation

Turning motherhood into one more stage of an athletic career implies understanding what happens to the body during pregnancy and what it needs to take on the demands of elite sport once again. “Obvious changes occur in the mechanical and musculoskeletal realm: weight increases progressively, the center of gravity shifts, and posture is modified, frequently with an increase in lumbar lordosis,” explains Dr. Ainhoa Coco Lizarraga, a gynecologist at Dexeus Mujer. But performance is also affected by the physiological changes of pregnancy, “especially from a cardiovascular point of view, which can influence the response and tolerance to exercise,” adds Escolà.

After childbirth, the body goes through a period of recovery and readaptation before returning to the demands of high-level sports. “There are no unique needs or timelines; every woman and every postpartum period is different,” points out Dr. Coco. In this process, Escolà reminds us that “there are structures that must assume a load and demands that we cannot completely control.” It is necessary to progressively recover the function of the pelvic floor and the abdominal wall, as well as strength, stability, and coordination. In fact, Inés Ramírez, a physiotherapist expert in abdomen and pelvic floor dysfunctions, points out that “we must not prepare only a strong pelvic floor, but a pelvic floor capable of responding to what that woman will ask of it.”

The changes are not limited to the body; there is also a remodeling of certain brain areas and networks related to adaptation to motherhood, emotional response, and bonding with the baby. “Pregnancy and the postpartum period are clinically relevant periods for mental health and perinatal and postpartum depression,” argues Merayo, who remarks that “being an elite athlete does not immunize against this reality.”

The return to the elite

Despite the pregnancy and postpartum process, the specialists consulted agree on one point: motherhood does not, in itself, prevent one from returning to compete at the highest level. “A healthy woman can return to the highest level of sport after becoming a mother,” maintains Dr. Coco. Furthermore, Escolà underlines that “if a woman has been able to maintain physical activity during pregnancy and already had a good training base, she can normally recover her rhythm with a certain speed.”

Ramírez agrees that recovering a competitive level is possible, but insists that “returning to do sports and returning to compete at the same level are two different things.” Between one stage and the next, it is necessary to progressively recover the capacity to tolerate loads, impacts, high training volumes, and fatigue.

“One of the main conflicts is wanting to return being exactly the athlete you were before, when you are probably living a different reality,” reflects Merayo. In this journey, external support is fundamental: the coach, the medical team, physical preparation, psychology, family, the club, and the federation. Precisely, CN Sabadell assured that its now former player García had had at her disposal the "medical, technical, and logistical resources necessary to accompany her."

In this line, the Royal Spanish Football Federation announced in September a fertility plan that allows international players to access treatments such as egg freezing at almost zero cost. “It has to do with being able to choose to be a mother, with the when, but also with the fact of being able to be one and having support during your career,” celebrated the Blaugrana player Patri Guijarro on the day of the presentation. This measure thus joins a debate increasingly present in elite sports about motherhood, reproductive health, and one's athletic career.