Pregnancy, pandemic

In an emotional video post this week, the retired Canada goalkeeper and head of Concacaf women’s football, Karina LeBlanc, laid bare the realities expectant or new mothers are fearing at the moment.

After coming home from the hospital last month following the birth of her first child, she said she began experiencing shortness of breath. As someone with underlying health conditions and, on the advice of her doctor, who suspected LeBlanc may have been exposed to Covid-19 during her hospital stay, she went into self-isolation – meaning a two-week separation from her days-old daughter.

In the video she filmed her newborn and husband behind a pane of glass, in a separate room from her.

‘‘It’s really difficult for a mum who has just given birth, and all the connection and emotions that I’m having,’’ LeBlanc said.

It hit home for former Arsenal and United States player Heather O’Reilly, who is expecting her first child in June. ‘‘She’s my mate, I was worried, and so sorry her and her baby have to be apart,’’ O’Reilly says of LeBlanc, against whom she played at club and national level, and with whom she has worked in broadcasting since both retired. ‘‘This is such a special and unique time to spend as a family, so [for them] not able to be together is heartbreaking.’’

Coronavirus is impacting birthing experiences and motherhood across the world, including those of sportswomen whose usual concerns – returning to fitness postpregnancy and securing maternity cover in their contracts – have been overtaken by a wholly unfamiliar threat.

When Alex Morgan announced her pregnancy last year, the US striker set herself the challenge of being ready for the Tokyo Olympics just four months after her April due date. But by the time March came around, the Olympics were shelved until 2021 and she was facing a more worrying prospect than she could have ever predicted – giving birth alone.

O’Reilly, 35, says reading about regulations (since overturned) that banned

‘‘You’re going to go get a sandwich or something and I’m going to have a baby by myself?’’

Former US footballer Heather O’Reilly to her husband Dave

partners from delivery rooms in hospitals in New York, was a ‘‘freak-out’’ moment she and former team-mate Morgan shared.