Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40169236›Full record

ArticleBritish journal of sports medicine2025

Advancing gender equity in sport: a scoping review of international sport federation policies for pregnant, postpartum and parenting elite athletes.

Margie H Davenport, Gyanjot Bains, Melanie Hayman, Chenxi Cai, Nonhlanhla S Mkumbuzi, Tara-Leigh McHugh

Abstract readScoping Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in British journal of sports medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Considerations of Fertility in Elite Sportswomen: A Narrative Review.BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology · 2026
    Review
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Margie H DavenportProgram for Pregnancy and Postpartum Health, Physical Activity and Diabetes Laboratory, Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation, Women and Children's Health Research Institute, Alberta Diabetes Institute, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberrta, Canada mdavenpo@ualberta.ca.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5627-5773
Gyanjot BainsProgram for Pregnancy and Postpartum Health, Physical Activity and Diabetes Laboratory, Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation, Women and Children's Health Research Institute, Alberta Diabetes Institute, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberrta, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0006-3987-3484
Melanie HaymanAppleton Research Institute, Central Queensland University School of Human Health and Social Sciences, Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1469-3496
Chenxi CaiState Key Laboratory of Molecular Vaccinology and Molecular Diagnostics, School of Public Health, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0008-9318-1707
Nonhlanhla S MkumbuziNtombiSport, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4982-0662
Tara-Leigh McHughFaculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Albetra, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6528-9613

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveThe aim was to synthesise international-level sport policies for pregnant, postpartum or parenting high-performance athletes in order to understand what policies currently exist and to identify policy gaps to be addressed.

designScoping review. DATA SOURCES: Online databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, SPORTDiscuss, Evidence-Based Medicine Reviews (Ovid), Scopus, Web of Science and ClinicalTrials.gov) and Google up to 14 June 2024. Additionally, a targeted search of existing policies was conducted via the websites of International Federations (IFs) and continental sporting organisations (CSOs) in September 2023. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: We included policies from IFs recognised by the International Olympic Committee, and CSOs associated with the IFs that specifically address pregnant, postpartum or parenting athletes. Policies were a written principle of action adopted by the IFs/CSOs that provided any form of support during pregnancy, post partum or for parents.

resultsA total of 219 organisations (49 IFs; 170 CSOs) were identified and contacted, with 47/49 (96%) IFs and 15/170 (9%) CSOs responding. Sport policies related to pregnancy, postpartum or parenting athletes were identified from 20 IFs including (1) guidance on training/competition during and following pregnancy; (2) eligibility affected or training not advised; (3) protection from dismissal; (4) special rank, points or quota protection; (5) protections apply to adoption, surrogacy, miscarriage, stillbirth, egg freezing and/or fertility treatment; (6) duration of leave and if leave is paid and (7) breastfeeding support/space. No policies identified specific provisions for childcare support/space.

conclusionsLess than half of all IFs have developed sport policies to support pregnant, postpartum and parenting athletes. Of the policies that do exist, most are limited in the extent to which they address the broad range of biopsychosocial supports that are necessary for facilitating optimal performance, enhancing long-term athlete health and addressing gender inequities that are deeply entrenched across all levels of sport. This review provides a critical piece of evidence needed to inform future policy development.

Indexed as

AthletesGender EquityParentingSportsFemaleHumansPostpartum PeriodPregnancyPregnancySportWomen in sport

Identifiers

PMID40169236
PMCPMC12320609

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.