Chloe WilsonMichelle Payne OAM, the first woman to win the Melbourne Cup in 2015, announced in July 2026 that she is expecting her first child with partner Gabriel Ribeiro. Racing fans celebrated — but the news has prompted a quieter conversation among sports medicine specialists: what does more than a decade of maintaining professional jockey weights do to a woman's body, and what should former weight-restricted athletes know before, during, and after pregnancy?
From Flemington to a New Chapter
The Victoria Racing Club unveiled a bronze statue of Michelle Payne at Flemington on 26 March 2026, cementing her legacy alongside Phar Lap, Makybe Diva, Bart Cummings, and Roy Higgins. Weeks later came her personal announcement. At 34, the now-retired jockey and trainer is preparing for a very different kind of finish line.
Payne's career spanned more than 15 years. Like all professional jockeys in Australia, she was required to make riding weights as low as 54 kilograms — saddle, gear, and all. For a woman of average height, sustaining that weight over a decade means operating with chronically restricted energy intake, often low body fat percentages, and the physiological adaptations that follow.
These adaptations do not vanish on retirement day. According to Sports Medicine Australia and the Australian Institute of Sport, sustained low energy availability in sport — clinically termed Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport, or REDs — can disrupt hormonal function, reduce bone mineral density, affect thyroid health, and impair iron metabolism. Pregnancy, which is one of the most significant physiological demands a human body can undergo, may be the first moment many former athletes discover just how much their sport left behind.
What Jockey Life Does to the Body That Standard Checks Often Miss
Female jockeys who have spent years making weight experience a specific constellation of risks that standard pre-conception care is not designed to catch. The booking appointment at a GP's office typically includes a blood pressure check, a rubella screen, folate levels, and a general blood count — but it rarely includes the markers that matter most for someone with a decade of weight restriction behind them.
Sports medicine practitioners who work with current and former elite athletes point to several specific areas of concern:
Bone mineral density. Years of low energy availability suppress oestrogen production, which in turn reduces bone formation. The spine and hips — already under load during pregnancy — may begin that process with a lower reserve than average. A standard obstetric care plan does not include a DEXA bone density scan.
Iron stores. Ferritin — the stored form of iron — is depleted by chronic caloric restriction and high training loads. Many former athletes have ferritin levels well below 30 micrograms per litre, a threshold below which iron stores are considered insufficient to support the 35–40 per cent increase in blood volume that occurs in the second trimester of pregnancy. Iron deficiency in pregnancy is one of Australia's most common nutritional complications, affecting a significant proportion of pregnant women by the third trimester, according to the Australian Government's Pregnancy, Birth and Baby service.
Thyroid function. Chronic caloric restriction can suppress thyroid output. A thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) level above 2.5 mIU/L prior to conception is associated with elevated early miscarriage risk — yet this is not routinely tested in standard pre-conception screens.
Menstrual cycle history. A shortened or irregular cycle — common in weight-restricted athletes — signals a luteal phase deficiency that reduces the implantation window. Women who experienced irregular periods during or after their athletic career should flag this explicitly, as many medical intake forms do not prompt for it.
Expert Reaction: The Screening Gap and How to Close It
Sports medicine practitioners who work with elite and former-elite athletes consistently note that the transition from a weight-restricted sport to a planned pregnancy is a medical event that warrants specialist input — not just a standard GP check.
The appropriate workup for a former professional jockey planning a family, according to sports medicine guidelines, includes: a DEXA bone density scan (available via GP referral), a full iron panel including ferritin (not just haemoglobin or a standard full blood count), thyroid function testing covering TSH, T3, and T4, and a reproductive endocrine review if cycles have been irregular for more than three months post-retirement.
None of these are included in the standard Medicare Benefits Schedule items for pre-conception care. Getting them requires proactive advocacy — knowing what to ask for, or having a specialist who knows what to look for.
A Concrete Scenario: What Can Change With the Right Assessment
Consider Emma — a 33-year-old from regional Victoria who rode in state-level races for nine years, consistently making the 55-kilogram riding weight, and retired from competition two years ago. In the months since retirement she has gained approximately 7 kilograms toward her natural weight, her periods have returned to regularity, and she is now 10 weeks pregnant following a planned conception.
Emma's standard first-trimester blood tests came back flagged as acceptable by her GP. But her ferritin was 16 micrograms per litre.
If that result had been left unaddressed: Emma would enter the second trimester with iron stores likely insufficient to support placental growth and the sharp rise in foetal demand. The risk profile at ferritin below 20 μg/L during early pregnancy includes elevated rates of preterm birth, low birth weight, and — for the mother — a significantly higher risk of postpartum fatigue and depression. These are not rare outcomes at that ferritin level; they are well-documented in the obstetric literature.
Because a specialist reviewed the result in context of Emma's weight-restriction history: she began therapeutic-dose iron supplementation at week 10 rather than waiting for the standard 28-week booking test. By week 20, her ferritin had risen to 38 μg/L — within the safe range for the demands of the third trimester.
The referral to a sports medicine physician cost Emma approximately $180 out of pocket for an initial consultation, against a rebate on the Medicare Benefits Schedule for the relevant blood panels. The potential cost of mismanaged iron during pregnancy — in preterm care, NICU days, or maternal health complications — is orders of magnitude higher.
What to Do If This Is Your History
The practical steps for any woman with a weight-restricted athletic background who is pregnant or planning to become pregnant:
Before conception:
- Request ferritin (not just haemoglobin) and a full thyroid panel through your GP, and ask for a DEXA scan referral if you had irregular periods during your sporting years
- Track your cycle for at least three months — flag any cycle shorter than 21 days or longer than 35 days before trying to conceive
- Consult a sports dietitian to build back bone-supportive nutrition, especially calcium and vitamin D
During pregnancy:
- Tell your midwife or obstetrician explicitly that you have a history of making weight for sport — many intake forms don't prompt this
- Ask for ferritin to be checked at 10–12 weeks, not only at the standard 28-week screen
- Do not assume that returning periods or feeling well mean your baseline markers are adequate
Finding the right specialist: A referral to a sports medicine physician, reproductive endocrinologist, or maternal-foetal medicine specialist can bridge the gap between standard obstetric care and the specific history of former elite athletes. Expert Zoom connects Australians with qualified health professionals — including those with experience in athlete-to-pregnancy transitions — with appointments available faster than a public specialist waitlist.
Michelle Payne changed what Australians believe women in sport can achieve. Her pregnancy is a timely prompt — for the thousands of women inspired by her career — to get the health checks that their athletic history has made genuinely important.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making decisions related to your health or pregnancy.
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