Administrators - What to do now

As an administrator you play a key role in creating a safe and healthy sports environment. To fulfil this function you need to ensure players understand the risks associated with your sport, all possible precautions have been taken to protect players from injury, and the club has appropriate insurance and liability cover.

• Respect that the decision to participate in sport during pregnancy needs to be made by the woman and her medical adviser.
• Make sure you are up to date regarding the benefits and risks for pregnant women participating in your sport, e.g., pregnant women are not advised to participate in extreme sports like scuba diving or parachuting.
• Do not give the player advice you are not qualified to give (e.g., about levels of participation and the likelihood of risk or injury to either the player or her unborn child). This type of information should be provided by the woman’s doctor or obstetrician.
• Recognise that women are not required to divulge the fact that they are pregnant.  If they do, point out that there may be risks associated with their ongoing participation and that they should discuss their involvement with their doctor or obstetrician.
• Ensure your club has appropriate levels of liability and professional insurance and that there are no exclusions relating to pregnancy.
• Seek professional medical/legal advice if:
  • you’re unclear about the risks
  • you’re unclear about your responsibilities
  • the sport involves extreme physical activity e.g., skydiving, horse riding, kick boxing etc.

What if a woman doesn’t seek medical advice or if she insists on playing contrary to that advice?

In this case you may have a responsibility to the unborn child:

• Write to the athlete explaining that she should seek medical advice about any risks – to herself and the unborn child – of continued participation.
  
• Contact your anti-discrimination agency and/or state sports organisation if she refuses to follow this advice.  It may be necessary to ban the woman from future games, but you must obtain legal advice before taking this step.

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