Canadian professor helps FIFA create tools to keep moms playing soccer

A Canadian researcher is helping pregnant and postpartum soccer players keep playing the game they love.

Margie Davenport, a professor in the University of Alberta's faculty of kinesiology, sport and recreation, is one of the experts behind a new set of FIFA decision guides aimed at helping athletes figure out how to play and train safely during and after pregnancy.

Research shows that staying physically active during pregnancy can reduce the risk of complications such as gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia and hypertension, and is linked with lower rates of depression.

There are guidelines for the general public on how much and what kind of exercise is safe, but those aren't always useful for high-level soccer players, Davenport said.

"Athletes have always said they don't know how to take that very vague information and apply it on the day-to-day basis on the field," she said.

Davenport, a mom of two and former synchronized swimmer for the Canadian national team, started working with FIFA about three years ago to help create educational content for athletes around fertility, pregnancy and the postpartum period.

She saw gaps in the information available for elite players when it came to physical activity, and — working with experts in Hamilton, Ont., and the United Kingdom — she analyzed existing scientific research on what's safe during and after pregnancy. The research team also looked at what barriers a high-level athlete might face, and used that information to create the new guidelines.

"When we talk about athletes, typically what we see is that most athletes are told to reduce their volume of activity across pregnancy," Davenport said. "Many athletes so strongly identify as an athlete; you take that sport away from