Scotland’s Claire Emslie on motherhood & World Cup dreams

With Jamie arriving ahead of schedule, Emslie says she and her husband were not fully prepared for parenthood.

“No, but we’re glad it happened like that because I didn’t have to think about it too much,” she said. “It was just, ‘right, here we go’.

“It wasn’t until we got to the hospital and they said we’d be going to surgery in an hour that the panic set in. But it didn’t last long because within an hour he was out and we were mum and dad.

“We were expecting him on 27 December. I was just thinking, ‘please don’t come on Christmas’. Then he came two weeks early and we were buzzing.”

Despite her rapid return to competitive action, Emslie says her recovery required patience after giving birth by Caesarean section.

“Three weeks later, I started with pelvic floor physio,” she said. “My main recovery was getting my abs back together. Everything else was intact and it was just getting the abs back together and allowing my body time to recover.

“After three weeks I started mobility work and slowly progressed from there. The support I had at Angel City was brilliant and it shows what’s possible with that support and the willingness to get back.”

Having returned to the Scotland squad, Emslie’s focus is now firmly on helping her country reach next year’s tournament in Brazil.

“It doesn’t get better,” she said. “As a footballer, playing for Scotland is the best thing. Going to a World Cup doesn’t get better than that.

“And to do it in Brazil, the footballing country, would be incredible.”