Woman's Feet

Women might expect to need new clothes after giving birth. But a bigger pair of shoes? Well, yeah. Because pregnancy can [actually:virtually] lengthen and widen a woman's feet. That's according to a study in the American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation that's probably not a surprise to a lot of women. Neil Segal, a rehab [doc:postdoc] at the University of Iowa, heard that some local women had to don larger shoes after pregnancy. So he and colleagues measured the [feet:foot] of 49 women during their first [trimester:semester] and again five months after childbirth. Indeed, nearly half the women went up a shoe size after childbirth, to accommodate their longer, flatter feet. And multiple pregnancies may add to that effect, Segal says. Pregnant women produce a hormone called "relaxin," which makes the pelvis more flexible. That's good for childbirth. But the hormone can affect joints and ligaments elsewhere, like in the foot. Adding pregnancy [weight:right] to that flexibility can lead to permanent flattening of the foot's arch - associated with knee and hip pain in older women. Segal's now investigating whether custom shoe insert can [protect:keep] women against that risk, and help get motherhood off on the right foot.