Paid maternity leave is just stupid. Why should someone get time off work for a choice they made? What about the people who choose not to have kids or can't? Time off work should be earned via however accumulated at your employer. If you don't have enough to last maternity leave, then you don't get paid for the whole time. Man it sure would be nice to get paid time off work for nothing!
Pretty sure no sponsor would give them full compensation for zero in return.
They could work in language that still gives athletes access to the trainers & shoes in exchange for influencer style work. Barring from high-risk pregnancy, women can still run for awhile and cross train, so Nike and other brands stand to get something out of sponsoring women through pregnancy plus the post mommy body comeback. Women do most of the buying for their households so from a marketing standpoint it’s gold.