Growing up, when a member of the USWNT announced a pregnancy it was usually followed by a retirement announcement. In more recent years USWNT players, Amy Rodriguez, Sydney Leroux, and Alex Morgan, returned to the pitch showing it’s possible to have all the things that bring you joy. Alex Morgan has quickly bounced back from pregnancy to regain her place on the national team never a thought that she might retire.

Disclaimer before we get too deep into this article I need you to know a few things. I have never been pregnant. Big surprise. I do not have children. I do not want children. I love snuggling my nephews, but that’s as close as I am getting to babies. Nor am I a medical professional in any way shape or form. I am sharing this up front to frame the context for the article.

Our society has a blind spot about pregnant women. For them, working out, running, and playing sports through pregnancy is a very real challenge, one that society has always said they should stop doing, though sports may be their income or joy. Even just the other day I had someone (a man) say “Women can’t run they will lose the baby.” This man obviously did not watch Sex and the City the movie, Charlotte taught us that’s not exactly true. We have numerous examples that it can be safe. It’s been encouraging to see pictures of Crystal Dunn pregnant and continuing to train. I’ve seen pictures filling the Instagram of @ESPNW of pregnant women doing Cross-fit and lifting weights.

Physical changes are just the tip of the iceberg for a female athlete during pregnancy. I watch my friends leave our soccer team, taking months and years to come back, if they ever do put their cleats back on again. In many circumstances it’s not just being away from a game she loves, but the people she loves too. Friendships and bonds are created whether on a college soccer team or the Sunday rec league. Separation from the game means being separated from those relationships. Add that on top of not being able to do things that came so easy a few months earlier. The mental and emotional aspect can be just as difficult as the physical. It means getting back on the field or staying on the field longer is important, but learning how to do that safely is critical.

Christine Nichols co-founder of Relentless Runners and Bump Runner, is a running coach who seeks to “inspire and coach runners and mamas”. Nichols is a “RRCA certified run coach, certified pre and postnatal fitness specialist, and soon to be certified personal trainer and women’s health and fitness specialist.” What makes her also an expert is she is a mother of two and expecting a third. She has first-hand experience of being an expectant mother who wants to keep running, staying fit, and enjoying her passions.

Nichols is also my sister-in-law whom I follow on Instagram (@chrissy.nich.runs). I watched her continue to run and compete in half marathons through two, now three, pregnancies. In a recent picture she is 28 weeks pregnant and doing CrossFit, squatting with heavy weights. I can barely do some fitness let alone an extra life growing inside of me.

Nichols created the program called Bump Runner (https://www.thebumprunner.com/) for those who want to continue running through pregnancy but unsure how or what to do to keep core and pelvic floor strong and up to the task, have had the baby and now have no idea how to return to running, or are postpartum but feel your pelvic floor and core are so weak and don’t know how to repair the muscles. These are common issues mothers have and need to address in running specific athletes.

Nichols shares helpful tips on her social media, core, band, and pelvic floor work most commonly. She also shares some soccer player specific thoughts here, “For all soccer players, since they run, and run hard, with quick stops and quick turns, pelvic floor will be a must. SPD is probably common with soccer players I would imagine because of those movements. I would say for soccer players to be mindful of the hormone Relaxin as they may pull a muscle because they will stretch further than typical range and may get injured”.

If you need additional support and help Nichols says, “My program is pelvic floor focused so the work they would do in the pregnancy Bump Runner will help keep the muscles strong and also relaxed to help support the running as baby bump grows.”

Nichols has strong emphasis on listening to your body and knowing what is working for you today. Everybody and every pregnancy are different. I’ve watched and seen her adapt to each pregnancy in a slightly different way as each pregnancy had slightly different needs.

It’s important for soccer players to know they have options. This is not an ending. Fitness is becoming more and more common as female athletes continue to train further into their pregnancies than before. The return time to game day is also being shortened as women adapt their fitness sessions to their body. Seeing women playing pregnant or returning to play will be more and more common as the tools needed are shared.

**Please consult your physician and listen to your body as you make decisions about working out through a pregnancy. Health is of the utmost importance.

by Danielle Gawronski