Jessica Ennis-Hill says pregnant female athletes get ‘no guidance’ from the top and are then ‘judged’ for returning to work after giving birth

She announced her retirement from athletics in 2016, two years after the birth of her first child.

But despite a glittering Olympic career, Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill has told how the sports industry fails to provide ‘guidance’ to pregnant athletes and ‘judges’ mothers returning after giving birth.

The former sportswoman, 38, who won gold in the heptathlon at the 2012 Olympics, says female athletes are forced to ‘find their own way through’ or rely on the advice of peers because there is no advice comes from ‘the top’.

Dame Jessica gave birth to son Reggie, nine, in 2014 and retired two years later. She announced she was pregnant with daughter Olivia, six, just a few months after retiring from athletics.

‘Nothing came from above. No one came to me and said, ‘Well, this is, like, the package,’ [or] “This is how we’re going to support you,” she said Women’s health.

The Olympic gold medalist gave birth to son Reggie, nine, in 2014 and retired two years later. She announced she was pregnant with daughter Olivia, six, just a few months after retiring from athletics

‘It’s still a bit of a gray area that you just have to find your own way through.

‘Like Laura [Kenny] I got pregnant, we talked and she asked how I did it and what I learned from it. But she did that of her own accord and, you know, she sought me out.”

Dame Jessica said she ‘naively’ thought she would be able to return to training after a ‘little break’ after Reggie’s birth, but soon realized she ‘wasn’t the same person’.

‘As soon as you have your first child, you change completely. “I wasn’t the same person,” she said.

‘I was still very driven and still wanted to finish my career. But I didn’t want to do it because I wouldn’t see my son and have quality time with him.”

She said female athletes are judged “in a different way” than male athletes when they return to training after having a child.

“I do think that as a woman you feel judged in a different way than a man who has his first child and starts exercising again,” she said.

‘I remember someone who works at the circuit [them] I just looked at myself and thought, ‘What are you doing?’ and ‘You shouldn’t be running.’

The former sportswoman, 38, who won gold in the heptathlon at the 2012 Olympics, says female athletes are forced to ‘find their own way through’ or rely on the advice of peers because there is no advice comes from ‘the top’.

Dame Jessica said she ‘naively’ thought she would be able to return to training after a ‘little break’ following Reggie’s birth, but soon realised she ‘wasn’t the same person’ (pictured 2015)

She said female athletes are judged “in a different way” than male athletes when they return to training after having a child

“I think as a female athlete there are a lot of questions when you come back. While a male athlete comes back after having his first child? [It’s like]’let’s just get on with it’.’

Dame Jessica said conversations about women’s health are “uncomfortable” in sport because it is still such a male-dominated field.

She said, “I think a lot of athletes also think it’s a weakness to say, ‘Oh, actually my period has changed,’ or, ‘My energy levels go up and down.’

Dame Laura Kenny recently announced her retirement from cycling after having her second child, realizing she wanted ‘a baby’ and not ‘gold medals’.

The full Jessica Ennis-Hill interview is available at Members of the Women’s Health Collective now in the WH app, or in the magazine from July 2.