Pregnancy Permanently Alters Feet Size of Women

A new finding from the University of lowa confirms that during pregnancy, the feet flattens out and looseness of the joints increase. This change in the size and shape of feet is irreversible.

According to a study conducted by Neil Segal, UI associate professor of orthopedics and rehabilitation, flat feet is a common problem of pregnant women and the arch of the foot flattens due to extra weight that is associated with pregnancy. And this loss in the arch height is irreversible.

"I had heard women reporting changes in their shoe size with pregnancy, but found nothing about that in medical journals or textbooks," Segal said in a press statement.

He continues to say that in order to scientifically prove this, they planned to measure the size of the pregnant women's feet at the beginning of their pregnancy and five months after delivery. The researchers were surprised to see that pregnancy does cause permanent changes in the feet.

In order to support the study, he conducted a study on 49 pregnant women. The static and dynamic measurement of these women during the first trimester of pregnancy and five months after the delivery was considered in this study.

The researcher noticed that the feet size of nearly 60-70 percent of the women increased. Their feet became longer and wider. On an average, the arch height and the measures of the arch rigidity decreased from early pregnancy to five months after childbirth. This caused the feet length to increase between 2mm-10 mm. No change was observed in the distribution of foot pressure.

Most of the changes occur during the first pregnancy, while the second, third or further pregnancies may not cause any change in the foot structure.

The researchers says that the changes in the foot that occur during pregnancy might be useful in explaining why women in comparison to men have a greater risk for being victims of arthritis in their hips, spine, feet and knees.

The study was published in the American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation.