Maria Toteva
National Sports
Academy, Sofia, Bulgaria
Introduction.
The
moderate level of exercise on a regular basis during a low risk
pregnancy has minimal risk for the fetus and beneficial metabolic and
cardio-respiratory effects for the exercising pregnant woman. Pregnancy
in the elite competitive athlete will require some alteration in
training.
The aim of the present study is to investigate the
influence of the period of pregnancy and giving birth in elite female
athletes.
Results
and discussion. 38 elite female athletes from 14 sports
have been surveyed. 32% of them stop active training right after
getting pregnant. The rest continue till the 10th week (28%) and
others
even longer till the 6th month: (athletics and rowers). Few continue
their participation in competitions till their 4th month of pregnancy,
while the larger part (78%) discontinue before that. Only 3 athletes
have had some health problems. The pre-birth contractions, the labor
until the actual delivery of the baby last the average of 6-7 hours and
in 89% of the cases birth is natural. Postpartum about 50% stop with
their sports career due to various personal and social reasons. Those
who continue go back to their physical programs in the period between 2
and 10 months after giving birth. It is very important that 90% of the
athletes mark achievements better than those before pregnancy. This
happens after different periods of training.
Conclusion. The
elite sport is not an obstacle for normal maternity and physiological
functioning of female athletes. On the contrary maternity can have
positive influence on achievements.
Key words: female
athletes, pregnancy, giving birth.
