'Supermoms' Stronger After Pregnancy

Nov. 13, 2007 -- A series of successes by recent mothers has prompted questions whether childbirth, far from spelling the end of a sporting career, can actually boost an athlete's performance.

Paula Radcliffe's sensational New York marathon win this month, after having her first child in January, followed Jana Rawlinson's return from childbirth to win world 400m hurdles gold in Osaka in August.

Japan also cheered as double Olympic judo champion Ryoko Tani won her seventh under-48kg world crown -- and her first as a mum -- in September.

All three said the rigors of pregnancy and labor had improved them as athletes by giving them more confidence and even making them stronger.

"I do think it gives you an extra inner strength as well and extra balance as a person," Radcliffe said.

"This was about establishing myself to all the people who thought having a baby would be the end of my career."

Swollen breasts, a loose pelvis and, in the case of a Caesarian section, damaged abdominal muscles pose a significant challenge to the returning sportswoman, affecting not just fitness but also balance, experts say.

"It is also quite tough to undergo full-scale training in parallel to breastfeeding," Akira Namba, a doctor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Saitama Medical University hospital, told AFP.

However, modern training techniques and a growing scientific awareness are enabling many athletes to overcome the difficulties.

"These athletes are professionals who knew how to control regimens and wanted to come back as soon as possible in order not to lose their value as athletes after childbirth," Namba said.

"I think there is a growing number of people like them."

Radcliffe caused concern in some quarters with her decision to train through much of her pregnancy, but the move was apparently vindicated by the safe birth of daughter Isla followed by the New York win just 10 months later.

"Pregnancy and childbirth are quite demanding on the body, so going through that must make somebody stronger afterwards," Patrick O'Brien of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists told the BBC.