Knowledge that helps female athletes progress
Pregnancy and elite sport: launch of the ‘Athletin-D’ website
The research project and its findings are designed to provide evidence-based, personalised and practical support for reconciling pregnancy, motherhood and elite sport. // Model photo: Colourbox.de
“Female athletes can generally continue to train safely during pregnancy and often return to top form after giving birth. What’s more, they have a right to receive appropriate support in doing so,” emphasises Prof Dr Kirsten Legerlotz of the University of Wuppertal. On Thursday evening, the exercise scientist presented the key findings from the ‘Pregnancy and Elite Sport’ project together with her colleague Prof Dr Petra Platen from Ruhr University Bochum.
“Many women compete at a high level, then they become pregnant and are suddenly left to their own devices. The topic has so far received little attention in sports and medical studies,” reports sports physician Petra Platen. Until now, there have been no guidelines for female athletes and coaches to refer to either.
Highlighting the need for support
The launch of the “Athletin-D” website is a first step, partly aimed at addressing this lack of awareness of the issue. The professors confirm that there is no scientific basis for statements such as “Pregnancy is not the time for peak performance” or “Pregnant women should take it easy and enjoy the time”.
As part of the project, they analysed the current body of research, interviewed female athletes, discussed the issues with experts and, based on this, have now developed initial recommendations for practical application. These include numerous factsheets and checklists on topics such as the desire to have children in elite sport, safety and wellbeing, nutrition, managing physical strain, childbirth, returning to competitive sport and pelvic floor health.
A book resulting from the project is also available for download on the website: this expert report, published by the Federal Institute for Sports Science, contains the full body of knowledge developed by the ‘Pregnancy and Elite Sport’ project.
In future, further findings from follow-up projects will be published on the ‘Athletin-D’ platform. A team, including Kirsten Legerlotz and Petra Platen, is currently investigating performance optimisation in the context of menstrual cycle health.
Visit the website: www.athletin-d.de
* Die Nutzungsrechte für das Colourbox-Bild obliegen der Bergischen Universität Wuppertal. Es ist nicht für die Veröffentlichung durch Dritte lizensiert.
