Chelsea Women have become the first team in the Women’s Super League (WSL) to introduce fertility and maternity policies designed to give players greater support both during their careers and when starting a family.
The Chelsea fertility and maternity policies give players access to fertility support, personalised pregnancy care, paid leave and help when returning to football after having a child. The club has also partnered with London fertility clinic Fertility Plus as part of the new initiative.
The move continues Chelsea’s focus on women’s health, with the club previously becoming the first in the world to track players’ menstrual cycles in 2020.
What Do the Chelsea Fertility and Maternity Policies Include?
The Chelsea fertility and maternity policies cover several areas of a player’s health and personal life.
Through the fertility programme, all Chelsea players can access a fund that supports options including egg freezing, IVF, smear tests and contraception. The club will also provide counselling and workshops to help players understand their options.
Importantly, the Chelsea fertility and maternity policies are not compulsory. Players can decide whether they want to use the available resources, depending on their own circumstances.
The maternity policy provides personalised support during pregnancy and recovery after giving birth. Chelsea will also provide financial support for a partner or nanny to travel to away matches for up to one year after a player returns to playing.
The policy also includes enhanced adoption and parental leave, wage support and subsidised childcare.
For Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastor, the Chelsea fertility and maternity policies are about giving players information and options rather than expecting them to follow one particular path.
Bompastor also has personal experience of balancing football and motherhood. The Chelsea boss has four children and explained that, during her own playing career, she felt there were fewer options available to her.
“As a club, it’s always been really important for us to support our players the best way possible,” Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastor exclusively told Sky Sports.
“We want to be a club who always supports the players to have more knowledge around different opportunities…it’s more for them to be able to make a choice and a decision about what they want for them.
“Every player is different, every individual is different, they have a different journey and you can make a choice based on what you know and what is available for you.
“You don’t have to choose anymore between your professional career and your personal life being a mum. Now, both are possible.”
Carly Telford Helped Shape Chelsea’s New Approach
Former Chelsea goalkeeper Carly Telford, who is now commercial manager for the women’s team, played an important role in developing the partnership with Fertility Plus.
Telford wanted the programme to cover more than just fertility treatment. The Chelsea fertility and maternity policies also give players access to information and support around areas such as hormones, endometriosis, cycle tracking and testing.
The aim is to give players a better understanding of their bodies while allowing them to decide what they want to do with that information.
Telford said the response from the Chelsea squad has been positive, with players informed about the programme through the club’s leadership group. She also stressed that medical information will remain confidential between the relevant doctors.
The Chelsea fertility and maternity policies therefore give players access to support without placing any pressure on them to make personal decisions publicly.
Chelsea have already had players return to football after becoming mothers. Melanie Leupolz gave birth in 2022 before returning to play for the club, while Zecira Musovic returned to Sweden in 2025 before giving birth later that year.
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A Wider Step for Women’s Football
The Chelsea fertility and maternity policies could also have an impact beyond Stamford Bridge.
Telford believes Chelsea’s position as one of the biggest clubs in women’s football gives the club an opportunity to encourage other teams, sports and businesses to think differently about women’s health.
The policy also comes at a time when more attention is being placed on the ability of female athletes to have families without having to sacrifice their careers.
For Bompastor, the Chelsea fertility and maternity policies are particularly important because players need support after giving birth as well as during pregnancy.
Returning to elite football after having a child brings physical, emotional and practical challenges. The club’s approach is therefore designed to support players beyond simply giving them time away from the pitch.
Extra Time Notes
The Chelsea fertility and maternity policies are an important development because they recognise that female footballers are not only athletes.
“It brings comfort and a thought process that we as a club are looking at them differently and are treating them as people as well as footballers,” Telford said exclusively to Sky Sports.
Chelsea’s decision does not mean every player will want to start a family during their career, nor should they. Instead, the key point is that players now have more information and support available if they choose to explore those options.
The Chelsea fertility and maternity policies also show how the growth of women’s football is about more than bigger stadiums, better facilities and increased commercial investment. Player welfare is another important part of that progress.
There is still a wider conversation to be had across football about pregnancy, maternity, fertility and women’s health. However, Chelsea’s latest move provides an example of what clubs can put in place to give players more choices during their careers.
For a club that has already placed significant attention on menstrual cycle tracking, the Chelsea fertility and maternity policies represent another step towards treating women’s health as part of the professional football environment rather than something separate from it.
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