Chelsea manager Emma Hayes has called for the Women’s Super League (WSL) to give more support to players who have babies.
Hayes was speaking after Chelsea’ German midfielder Melanie Leupolz made her first start for the London side after returning from maternity leave, playing 81 minutes in the 3-1 league home win over Brighton on Wednesday.
“If a player tears an ACL, you do everything possible to get them back on the pitch in nine to 12 months,” Hayes told Sky Sports. “We should be exactly the same with a woman that has a baby, but we don’t. I think we have to ask ourselves more seriously why that is.”
Leupolz had taken time to praise Chelsea for “doing much more than they had to do” in helping manage her return to the first team. “Other clubs should take Chelsea as an [example] and ask questions about how we did it because, in my experience, they were super,” the28-year-old added.
WSL players now receive maternity cover as part of an agreement between the FA and PFA, but that only came into effect from the 2022-23 season and was not in place when Leupolz announced her pregnancy early last year.
“Emma has a child herself and she knows what’s important,” Leupolz added. “We had a catch-up every two weeks, talked about my training programme, and how I can get back to my strength and fitness after birth.”
[Image credit / Sky Sports]
