Being a mother certainly isn’t easy, and being a student doesn’t make the ride any smoother. Now, try being an athlete along with the aforementioned conditions. There’s certainly a challenge in that, but senior discus thrower Brittany Hampton balances all three with the help of her family and support system at N.C. State.
Hampton’s daughter, Nellie Hampton, was born Dec. 5, 2011, and she returned to competition three months later at Raleigh Relays, where she placed first in her event with a 51.05-meter throw.
According to Hampton, conditioning during and after her pregnancy has been difficult, but the reward of returning outweighs its negative aspects.
“It has been really hard,” Hampton said. “But, if you want something you’re going to do whatever it takes to get there. It’s a huge blessing, because just four months ago I couldn’t see my feet. I’ve had some really good throws in the past couple of weeks, makes me feel like I can still do this.”
“It takes a lot of strength training and my coach spends a lot of time with me working out and a lot of time at practice,” Hampton said. “I owe a lot of my success to him.”
In terms of adjusting to motherhood as a student, Hampton took online classes during her pregnancy and after her daughter was born. She also took one class on campus and had the help of a professor that eased her work around the pregnancy.
“I took all of my classes online in the fall,” Hampton said. “In the spring of last year I had one class on campus. That was really hard, but I had a very understanding teacher, Deborah Hooker. She’s the WTS adviser. She was very understanding and worked with me. I spent a lot of classes just sitting on the floor if I got nauseous. She would let me bring food if I got hungry.”
Hampton is only taking one class this semester, but she is still faced with the challenge of finding time for herself to complete her work. She credits her husband, Nathan, with helping her in finding a slot of time in the day to do her work.
“It is a lot busier,” Hampton said. “I only have one class, it’s online, but Nellie is stuck to me like glue, so it’s hard to find an hour even to sit down with just me and my books and get my work done. But thankfully, my husband helps out a lot. He takes her for an hour or two.”
Nursing a newborn builds a strong bond between the child and the mother, but the busy schedule of being a division I athlete has the potential of throwing a wrench in those plans. However, Hampton makes it a point to make sure that their bond is inseparable.
“It’s hard to break that kind of bond,” Hampton said. “It’s something she and I still have intact. That’s why she comes with me to track meets.”
“Pretty much anywhere I go she comes too. Thankfully, the athletic program is very understanding of that and they try to accommodate me as best they can. It’s been really easy to keep her with me pretty much all of the time.”
