With Arsenal's Amanda Ilestedt recently announcing she is pregnant with her first child and West Ham's Dagny Brynjarsdottir releasing a documentary on the struggles of athletes deciding to become mothers, pregnancies in elite women's football have been spotlighted.
Professional football and motherhood often don't go side-by-side, with only 1% of Women's Super League players being mothers according to a Fifpro survey. However, there have been plenty of female footballers who have proven that carrying a child doesn't mean they can no longer compete at an elite level upon their return.
In England, players in the Women's Super League and Women's Championship receive full wages for the first 14 weeks of their maternity leave, and then statutory pay.
Historically, maternity leave has been underpaid, with players such as former Iceland captain Sara Bjork Gunnarsdottir having to make a claim under FIFA maternity regulations against her former club Lyon, as they failed to pay her full salary during pregnancy.
The FA's 2022-23 maternity policy now forms part of a club's licensing agreement, and must be offered to players to ensure license criteria is met. This aims to prevent situations like Sara's from occurring again, and also ensures that a player is entitled to maternity pay regardless of how long she has been employed by her club. Previously, players had to have been with their club for a minimum of 6 months in order to be eligible for full maternity pay.
Amanda Ilestedt has announced that she is taking a step away from football to have her first child, meaning she is set for an extended period off the pitch.
Ilestedt hasn't played for Arsenal since their loss to West Ham on the 4th February, with her being left out of the match-day squad due to sickness for the last few weeks.
Even though she spent a lengthy period on the sidelines with illness, her pregnancy still came as a surprise to the Gunners' fans. However, after her pregnancy was announced, it seemed obvious as to why she had missed so many of Arsenal's recent games. No assumptions were made that Ilestedt could be pregnant, as it is rare for an elite women's player to carry a child in the middle of their playing career.
More needs to be done to highlight and normalise that women's professional footballers can carry children and then come back to their profession at an elite level.
West Ham captain Dagny Brynjarsdottir recently released a documentary made with the club, discussing her pregnancy journeys as a professional footballer. She has now welcomed her second son, so has been through pregnancy as a professional athlete twice, and has been strongly supported by West Ham throughout her second pregnancy, as well as with raising her first child.
The documentary "Omarsson" followed the personal struggles Dagny had to navigate as an athlete choosing to start a family whilst playing football. It gave a closer look at the support and help she received from West Ham during her second pregnancy, as well as her motherhood journey.
Brynjarsdottir said to West Ham TV "I think it's amazing how much the club supports me with my son. Not every club would let their kid come to the training ground and on to the pitch. I'm very grateful that he gets to have all of these experiences with me."
West Ham United held a gender reveal at their Chadwell Heath training ground for Dagny Brynjarsdottir after announcing she was having a second child, proving she was well taken care of in a supportive environment, and ensuring she still felt included as part of the team.
The aim of the documentary is to generate conversations surrounding motherhood and pregnancy in professional football, and create a culture where carrying a child and returning to elite sport is supported.
Australia's Katrina 'Mini' Gorry, who made the move to West Ham in January, is also a mother who has spoken out about both the struggles and joys of carrying a child as a professional footballer.
Gorry chose to become a single mother through IVF, giving birth to her daughter Harper in August 2021. Her decision was well planned out, with an aim to return to elite football and get ready for her 2023 home World Cup.
Mini Gorry was not only called up for the 2023 World Cup, but she was also one of the Matildas' stand out players of the tournament. She topped Australia's list of most tackles won and most distance covered per match, and ranked in the top three for shots attempted, passes, and chances created.
Katrina Gorry's outstanding abilities showcased at the World Cup proved that carrying a child does not mean you cannot return to elite football.
Gorry featured in teammate Dagny Brynjarsdottir's documentary, saying that part of the reason she chose to join West Ham was because she had seen how accepting the club had been with families, creating a supportive environment that she wanted her and her family to be a part of.
Although there are examples of players receiving care and support from their clubs during and after their pregnancies, there is still a strong taboo surrounding motherhood in professional football.
In 2017, Fifpro World Players' Union conducted a survey with 3,295 female footballers which found that 47% felt they would have to leave the game early to start a family.
The same report found that 61% of women players are offered no childcare support, only 8% of players who had a child by 2017 were provided maternity pay from their National Governing Body or club, and only 3% of clubs provided childcare support.
The lack of maternity rights for professional footballers can be blamed in part to a lack of female representation in decision-making processes in the sport, meaning the experiences of women are overlooked.
More needs to be done in order to normalise pregnancies in elite women's football, with clubs and national governing bodies needing to give as much support and care as possible to the players that wish to become mothers and continue with their playing careers.
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