Development of sport policy and practice recommendations for pregnant, postpartum and parenting Canadian high-performance athletes

Abstract

Our objective is to describe the development of evidence-based policy and practice recommendations for pregnant, postpartum and parenting Canadian high-performance athletes. A community-based participatory research approach was employed as the study design, and data were generated via a rapid review of existing sport policy for pregnant and postpartum athletes, followed by an extensive consultation and engagement process with key sport stakeholders via survey and one-on-one and group interviews. 102 sport stakeholders participated via the survey (n=56), individual and group interviews (n=33), and follow-up interviews (n=13). Individuals represented a range of summer/winter Olympic and Paralympic athletes, medical and support staff, National Sport Organisations and Sport Canada representatives. Seven evidence-based policy and practice recommendations were developed for Sport Canada decision-makers. Recommendations include the need for Sport Canada to (a) establish two new cards for pregnant and parenting athletes, (b) develop a policy to support pregnant, postpartum and parenting athletes, (c) create new funding sources for facilities that accommodate the needs of pregnant, postpartum and parenting athletes, (d) create new funding source for athletes to train and/or compete during infants’ first year, (e) develop training and educational modules related to pregnant, postpartum and parenting athletes, (f) increase visibility of pregnant, postpartum and parenting athletes and (g) invest in research on high-performance sport participation during and following pregnancy. The collaborative processes employed in this research serve as a model for sports organisations to develop evidence-based policies and practices that can support pregnant, postpartum and parenting athletes.