West Coast Eagles great Dana Hooker confirms she will return to AFLW after giving birth to daughter Zara

West Coast AFLW star Dana Hooker is on track to return to football later this year, just months after giving birth to her second child. And in an interview with The Sunday Times, Hooker — who missed all of last season while pregnant with daughter Zara — opened up on her path back to elite sport post-birth, including work with a women’s health physio on pelvic floor health that helped her return. A study by health insurer Medibank revealed a lack of awareness of pelvic floor issues among Australian women with only 19 per cent having received detailed information. A weak pelvic floor can cause issues including incontinence and in serious cases organ prolapse. However, it is possible to reduce the symptoms and severity with regular strengthening exercises. Hooker reflected on knowledge she now had about pelvic floor health compared with her first pregnancy with daughter Alice in 2016 when she was also racing to return to playing a quick as possible with the looming establishment of the AFLW. “I was telling the hospital staff on discharge what the plan was, that I was going to go back to playing footy really quickly,” Hooker, an ambassador with Medibank, said of her first pregnancy. “The AFL had announced the national competition (AFLW), the draft was coming up so I needed to go back and play in the WAFLW and I told hospital staff I was planning on playing in a few weeks and they were like, ‘What about your pelvic floor’ and my response was, ‘What’s a pelvic floor’?” Hooker was put in contact with a women’s health physio who she worked with and six weeks later she was back playing footy and went on to win Fremantle’s inaugural best and fairest award in 2017. Now an Eagles player, Hooker said she was able to take more proactive steps with her most recent pregnancy, working with a women’s health physio before giving birth. “I was fortunate that everything was good and I didn’t have any major issues after I had Alice and from that experience I was made aware that as a female and a high impact sport athlete that I had to take a bit more care and implement some things I hadn’t previously done,” she said. “What I did during Zara’s pregnancy was significantly different, I was doing a lot more which I think helped keep me in really good stead for post birth. “Throughout the (most recent) pregnancy I was doing lots of preventative work and then post-birth as well. “The lady I saw was fantastic and working with her to make sure everything was good to go gave me confidence and I was back running again three weeks after.” Medibank group medical director Shona Sundaraj said Hooker opening up would help more young women understand the importance of pelvic floor health. “All women, regardless of whether they have given birth, from professional athletes to women that walk their dogs daily, need strong pelvic floors,” Dr Sundaraj said. “By beginning pelvic floor exercises early and continuing to prioritise them, women can prevent long-term dysfunction and maintain optimal pelvic floor health. Currently, just over a third of women believe they only need to start doing pelvic floor exercises prior to getting pregnant, during pregnancy and post-childbirth. “Whilst it’s true that pelvic floor health is crucial during those stages, it’s important to remember that all women benefit from maintaining pelvic floor health throughout their lives.” Hooker missed all of Daisy Pearce’s first season in charge of the Eagles, but has revealed the Melbourne premiership hero has been a driving factor in her comeback. Pearce also returned to playing after missing a season for the birth of her twins. “Sitting on the sideline and training with the girls and being there with them and doing it all to a certain extent was good but it was frustrating, I’m not good at sitting on the sideline,” Hooker said. “It’s hard to explain because you are so excited about the pregnancy but there was also a part of you, like with an injury, that grieves a little bit for the loss that you aren’t going to be out there playing. “But knowing we had Daisy as a coach I knew she had done her pregnancy during her football journey as well when she was captain at Melbourne, so there was a part of me that took comfort in that and that she understood. It’s been great to be able to share that experience with her. Getting Daisy in was just fantastic, she has really changed the tone for us.”