Alex Morgan scored her 1st post-birth goal for the US Women’s National Soccer Team in February this year, 2021. Her celebration felt like a mockery to the belief that women who have given birth can’t be as efficient as they were before. She is a soccer player representing the USA at the International Level and playing for Orlando Pride in the National League. Serena Williams has lifted several awards and trophies and won many games after having a baby. It was like nothing major had changed. During the WNBA Bubble, we saw players who came with their children and managed to post it high in their game statistics. At home, our very own Flirsh Flavia, the captain of the National Basketball Team, has set an example for local athletes who think you can’t be a mother and succeed in sports. She will still power drive you to the left or right at all costs.
I am led to believe that depending on the process women go through; breastfeeding, pre – antenatal and post antenatal care one may receive, as well as the recovery process from the pregnancy and delivery, can prepare her for a possible return to life as usual after an almost year-long hiatus.
This is such a great example that has been set for girls in sports. Abandon all your fears about ineffectiveness when one resumes playing ball after giving birth. It could pass for one of the misconceptions and stereotypes that have engulfed women in sports, who also want to have families, and are forced to sacrifice one for the other, and more often than not, they choose family… and one cannot fault them for their decisions.
I carried out a small survey using my girlfriends in sports as the sample space. I took it upon myself to ask each girl how she felt about pregnancy and what it has in store. The fear is real. I won’t deny that I have concerns when it comes to this subject matter. Fears of inactivity or inefficiency or family vs. career or productivity or sacrificing one part of my life for another. Why can’t I have it all? Several girls questioned the possibility of ever giving birth until they achieved what they seek in the field. For others, the situation is more of a reality than a hypothetical future since they have significant others. Eventually, it was dismissed with the usual ‘We shall see when we get there,’ seemingly in an attempt to not think about that possibility right now. More to that, I realized that it is a nuanced issue with several complexities and variables that one cannot account for now. No one knows how they’ll feel about a subject five years from now and neither do they know what the future holds.
I have put forward a few women in the field as proof that one needs not to sacrifice family life for their careers and vice versa, a beacon of hope for females everywhere. No small accounts of how they succeeded can cover all that they went through behind closed doors to make this possible, but I believe the first step is knowing exactly what you want and then going for it. By having such clarity, the determination will be spurred on to defeat all the obstacles that may come your way. It is clarity that keeps you going even when you’re awake with anxiety at 3 am wondering whether you can do it and whether it’ll be easier to give up and settle. It is clarity that drives you through to the literal and metaphorical finish line. I once had an exciting experience of witnessing a mother and daughter playing for the same team. During training, the mother worked as hard as her child and even more. She was older but able to keep up with youthful energy with what seemed to be bursts of grit and determination fueling her. Mothers in sport, we admire and appreciate you, for you have done what once seemed impossible.
My soccer coach trained us till the last days of delivery and was back not long after, as for as ever! A friend once told me about a geography teacher who taught till she almost had her baby in the classroom, went to the hospital, gave birth, and was back in less than a week. Her husband had to bring the baby periodically just for feeding while she worked. Strong women like these exist, and we are thankful for their strength, which signals to all women that giving birth doesn’t automatically mean the end of your career unless you choose to.
But hey, let us not confuse each other. Remember, do the right thing at the right time with the right people for the right purpose. Don’t make any rushed decisions with impaired judgments based on another person’s life! But reflect on their lives as you reflect on yours as well, to learn lessons from the best examples.
Happy Women’s month
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