Chelsea Women become first WSL club to launch fertility and maternity policies

Chelsea Women have become the first club in the Women's Super League to introduce dedicated fertility and player maternity policies, giving their squad the choice to start a family however they wish — with full support both during and after pregnancy.

Chelsea Women head coach Sonia Bompastor

The Blues, long accustomed to setting the standard on the pitch, are now leading the way off it. The policies arrive as the next step in a pioneering approach to women's health that began when Chelsea became the first club in the world to track players' menstrual cycles, a programme introduced by Emma Hayes in February 2020.

Head coach Sonia Bompastor told Sky Sports the move is about giving players knowledge and control over their own lives. "As a club, it's always been really important for us to support our players the best way possible," she said. "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."

She added: "You don't have to choose anymore between your professional career and your personal life being a mum. Now, both are possible."

A partnership built around players, not just procedures

Chelsea have partnered with leading London fertility clinic Fertility Plus, with former goalkeeper and now commercial manager Carly Telford driving the collaboration. Telford, who remains close to the squad from her playing days, said she wanted the club to be a pioneer.

"I've seen first-hand the kind of experiences that women, girls and athletes have when it comes to making choices around fertility and I wanted us to be a leading club in that," she told Sky Sports. "I wanted to find a fertility clinic that offered more than just egg freezing and more than just optional things, but to give choices around hormones, endometriosis, cycle tracking, testing - something all-encompassing around the female body."

"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 added. "It's an important thing to have that every club should be looking at, the league should be looking at, the FA should be looking at in terms of making sure that women have a choice when it comes to their whole body."

'I thought there was only one way for me to become a mum'

Bompastor, who has four children with her partner and Chelsea assistant coach Camille Abily, reflected on her own playing career, when a lack of options made her believe motherhood and elite sport were incompatible.

"When I reflect on my own story and experience, I didn't really have the choice," she said. "I wanted to have a really good career as a player and I decided to carry on and to finish maybe a little bit earlier than what I should have done because I also wanted to become a mum and have a family. With the knowledge I had in that moment... I thought it was almost the only way for me to do that."

She said she is "really proud to be the head coach at Chelsea and to offer that opportunity to the players."

Players respond positively

No Chelsea players have yet revealed whether they intend to use the new resources — a decision that remains private. But Telford said feedback from the squad has been encouraging. "The players are feeling very comfortable with it," she said, adding that any medical information would be "confidentially shared amongst the doctors at Fertility Plus and the doctors within the club."

Chelsea have precedent here. Melanie Leupolz had a baby in 2022 before returning to play, while Zecira Musovic moved back to Sweden in June 2025 before giving birth later that year. Former Blues captain Millie Bright recently announced her pregnancy having retired from playing earlier this year.

"The 30-plus-year-olds are probably the last group of women that have had to maybe put those things on hold," Telford said, hoping the policies give older players more agency over their futures.

Two programmes working in tandem

The fertility and maternity strands are designed to work together, offering players choice whether they want to start a family or simply look after their gynaecological health. Bompastor stressed the importance of post-natal support. "When you are a high-level athlete and you become a mum, those are two full-time jobs and you need that support to be able to do both at your best level," she said.

Ultimately, Telford hopes Chelsea's profile can help raise awareness of women's health across the game. "All women should know about their bodies," she said.