It's not easy being an athlete-mother, and we salute those who are pulling it off

This is a column by Shireen Ahmed, who writes opinion for CBC Sports.  For more information about  CBC's Opinion section , please see the  FAQ .

Mother's Day is coming up and as I scrolled through images of the Met Gala on social media, I saw that Serena Williams — one of the greatest athletes of all-time — chose to reveal her second pregnancy at the famous event in New York City. Williams is one of the most recognized mothers in sport. During the U.S. Open, her final tennis tournament before retirement last September, her daughter wore an outfit to honour her mom's legacy. 

Serena's husband, Alex Ohanian, often sat with baby Olympia in the stands and many marvelled at this beautiful and successful family. It is excellent that Williams's husband is publicly caring for their child as Williams works. Williams also brought attention to the fact that Black women suffer from systemic racism in health care when she shared the story of her birth experience and being ignored by nurses after the delivery.

Although Williams normalized taking her child to practice and tournaments, not all mothers have that option. Two prominent Canadian athletes, Kim Gaucher and Mandy Bujold, had to fight to allow their nursing babies to even come to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The basketball player and the boxer had quite the battle even before reaching Tokyo to compete. 

As much as motherhood is celebrated in May with grand marketing campaigns and touching commercials (yes, I cry when I watch them), women are still challenged when it comes to parenting their children and playing professional sports. They don't always have the most necessary parenting resources like childcare support or even changing tables in arenas and stadiums.