FACT FINDER: Pregnancy in Women changes Foot Size Permanently

A new University of Iowa study confirms what many women have long suspected — that pregnancy permanently changes the size and shape of a woman’s feet.

Flat feet are a common problem for pregnant women. The arch of the foot flattens out, possibly due to the extra weight and increased looseness (laxity) of the joints associated with pregnancy. The new study, published in the March issue of the American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, suggests that this loss of arch height is permanent.

“I had heard women reporting changes in their shoe size with pregnancy, but found nothing about that in medical journals or textbooks,” says Neil Segal, M.D., UI associate professor of orthopaedics and rehabilitation. “In order to study this more scientifically, we measured women’s feet at the beginning of their pregnancy and five months after delivery. We found that pregnancy does indeed lead to permanent changes in the feet.”

The UI study followed 49 pregnant women and collected static and dynamic arch measurements during the first trimester of pregnancy and again about five months after childbirth. The researchers found that for about 60 to 70 percent of the women in the study, their feet became longer and wider.

- Vanguard