Netballer Sophia Candappa has praised Wasps for their maternity policy and has called on other clubs in the Vitality Super League to follow suit.

Candappa gave birth to her first child, a boy called Otis, in September and was one of the first players at the club to fall pregnant during the playing season. She says this has stirred up a lot of discussion around maternity policy in the league.

"I'm probably one of the first people from within a club to get pregnant during the season so my experience has sparked a discussion around policies.

"Wasps have been brilliant but they're obviously a massive organisation that have that infrastructure in place in terms of maternity. I'm hoping that it inspires other clubs to do the same.

"We're looking at trying to get England Netball to enforce a policy that each Superleague franchise has to follow. Essentially, the difficulty is that in a normal job you can work up close until you give birth but in netball you can't - you are recommended to only play up to 12 weeks.

"We're kind of going down the route of treating it a bit like an injury in the fact that you're still involved. You'll still go to training just with other roles and responsibilities which you can take off the court.

"It means that you're still active, involved and are getting paid rather than just being completely cut off.

"I think a lot of players wouldn't want to be cut off but there are also some people who are really ill in their first trimester. Really, it's just knowing that there's support in place and that you're being backed by your club," she told Sky Sports.

The Vitality Super League returns on February 22, Wasps will play Manchester Thunder in the opening weekend.