Primeiro Round recently told the story of Brazilian strawweight fighter Kinberly Novaes who withdrew from an upcoming bout scheduled for Aug. 21 after difficulty with her weight cut lead the fighter to discover she was six months pregnant. Novaes then remembered that she had competed earlier this year on May 17, and realized she would have been 12 weeks pregnant at the time of winning the Noxii 115-pound title in Brazil. Thankfully, it was later confirmed that Novaes is expected to have a healthy baby boy. But what is the protocol surrounding pregnancy in Women’s MMA; are fighters tested and is there an acceptable cut off point? Novaes revealed that she had been experiencing health concerns, but the thought of pregnancy did not cross her mind. MMAFighting.com spoke with the fighter: “I’m a little stubborn, I don’t like to go to the doctor,” Novaes said with a laugh. “I’ve been feeling sick for a while, colic, headaches and cramps. I was feeling tired recently, couldn’t even run, and it was really tough for me to cut weight. I was cutting weight for my RFA debut, but couldn’t lose weight. I did a stricter diet four weeks before the fight, and I actually gained 2.2 pounds in six days. I was desperate. I realized my belly was hard, so I thought I had some intestine issue. I took laxative and other things, but a guy that does massages for me told me to go to the doctor.” While many sanctioned events have been known to conduct pregnancy tests, such as the IMMAF Amateur Championships and leading Women’s MMA promotion Invicta FC, there are still many promoters who do not require female fighters to complete a pregnancy test, but do complete other more expected tests for blood issues such as HIV. MMAFighting.com also spoke to Noxii promoter, Bruno Barros; Noxii is not regulated by the Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission (CABMMA). “I didn’t ask for the exam. That’s the truth,” Barros told MMAFighting.com. “I didn’t even think about the possibility of a woman fighting while pregnant, going through a camp and dehydrating and everything.” “That was my first event,” he continued. “I asked for HIV and hepatitis tests, but some fighters didn’t send me the results. I didn’t pull them out of the fights because they all wanted to fight. Some fighters claimed they had no money to pay for the tests, others said they didn’t have time to do it, but that’s my fault that I let them fight anyway. But thank God everything is fine with the baby.” So how safe is it for a female athlete to compete in combat sports, even during the early stages of pregnancy? And should athletes undergo mandatory pregnancy tests? UK medical advisory group, Safe MMA, issued the following response and stressed that when a pregnancy test is not required, personal declaration should still be taken seriously as a matter of personal responsibility: “Fighters should NOT compete if they are pregnant. Although the foetus is well protected in the first 12 weeks, as a rule you should not fight when pregnant due to possible increased risks, including miscarriage. Anyone who is known to be pregnant will be given the advice not to partake in combat sport, where abdominal impact is highly likely, by their GP or doctor who should know that their patient is a fighter.” “This is about personal responsibility. For example, women are not given a pregnancy test before having a CT scan of the abdomen which could be damaging to the developing foetus. Nor are they requested to take a test before smoking and drinking.” [/spb_text_block]]]>
