Chelsea FC Women (CFCW) has today announced a new, enhanced suite of family-friendly policies designed to provide our players with greater financial security, personalised care and comprehensive support through pregnancy, parenthood and other family-building journeys, as the club continues our ambition to set the standard for player care in women’s football.

Chelsea FC has always been proud to offer industry-leading maternity support, but players face a unique challenge in balancing peak physical performance on the pitch with the demands of pregnancy, post-partum recovery and balancing motherhood with their return to play. We are therefore setting out a new suite of policies to provide wraparound, tailored support for our players that will better help them navigate starting a family.

The centrepiece of the new framework is the club’s Player Maternity Policy, offering personalised support throughout pregnancy and dedicated medical care to support each player’s individual return to professional football.

The policy has been developed to give players greater financial security and confidence planning for parenthood, recognises that every player’s journey is different, while ensuring their health and wellbeing remain the priority throughout pregnancy and their transition back to elite sport.

The club’s enhanced approach includes:

• Personalised support throughout pregnancy, with the right to access private scans and delivery options

• Post-partum recovery support, led by the club’s industry-leading experts covering physical, mental and emotional aspects of postnatal health

• Financial support for a partner or nanny to travel to away fixtures up to one year after a player’s return to play, to ensure those early months of returning to play post-delivery are fully supported

• Enhanced adoption and parental leave policies, recognising that there is no single path to becoming a parent

• Subsidised childcare, a contribution to childcare costs when a player returns to rehab or training

These policies follow our recently announced partnership with Fertility Plus, which includes the creation of a Player Value in Kind Fund to financially support players exploring their fertility and family-building options.

The breadth of policies has been comprehensively reviewed and revised as part of CFCW’s pursuit to be never done challenging ourself and never done pushing for progress. Most recently this ambition has been brought to life with all of the team’s Barclays Women’s Super League matches now being played at Stamford Bridge, through working with industry-leading partners delivering campaign-winning work and enhancing policies to offer our players the very best care, not only on the pitch, but in all areas of life and at every stage of their careers.

Aki Mandhar, Chief Executive Officer for Chelsea FC Women, said: ‘There is no single path to becoming a parent, and our responsibility is to ensure our players have access to the support, security and care they deserve, whatever their individual journey looks like. Our enhanced Player Maternity Policy, alongside our adoption, parental leave and fertility support, is designed to give our players confidence that they will be supported throughout their careers with us.’

Phil Radley, Sporting Director for Chelsea FC Women, added: ‘We are proud of the progress we are making, but we are never done looking for ways to do more. Our ambition is to build the best women’s sports organisation in the world; one that truly values its players and gives them everything they need to thrive – both as athletes and as people.’