Fashionable Shoes or Foot Comfort for Pregnant Women?

Your getting pregnant changes everything – even if you didn’t expect infringements on your shoes choice, consider your footwear before you may have to. A recent poll reported by the BBC goes to show that pregnant women who decided to stick to their favorite high heels, stilettos, ballet pumps, flip flops and Ugg boots may end up with painful feet – and maybe more.

Swollen feet and ankles, pains in the arch and sensitive heels is what seven in ten expectant mothers owned up to as an addition to their other pregnancy worries.

The survey initiated by the British Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists that embraced 1,000 women-to-become-moms revealed that, having gotten pregnant, too many of them don’t want to give up on their fashionable shoes. Fashion customs die hard – half the involved women said they hated the idea of falling behind celebrity trends in terms of beautiful shoes and high heels.

Meanwhile podiatrist Lorraine Jones tells a different tale in her interview with the BBC. Stiletto-like designs are definitely out of the question during pregnancy because they put extra pressure on women’s back and knees and shorten the calf muscles, thus affecting the whole posture.

Another threat to the joints that may already be overstrained is provided by high-heeled shoes that can cause manifold foot, leg and back problems, not mentioning the possibility of crashing down to the ground, she pointed out.

Back to the women surveyed, so many of them stray out of the right path, 66% regularly wearing flip flops, 53% sliding into ballet pumps, 32% wearing high heels, and 30% keeping to their Uggs.

The American Podiatric Medical Association seconds the British specialists’ advice, recommending shoes with a strong, supportive arch instead of high heels. Additional weight that changes the body’s gravity center in pregnant women makes their walk less steady and high heels bring more strain to the knees, legs and feet, they warn.

“Supportive, wide fitting shoes” is the best bet for a pregnant woman in the opinion of the American Podiatric Medical Association, whatever their fashion value. “Comfortable footwear that provides extra support and shock absorption” is what would-be moms will have to settle for in order to avoid foot and calves problems.

Of course heeding this sound advice is not an easy thing to do. Too strong the temptation to look just like those gorgeous ladies from the magazines.

“Many of the pregnant celebrities you see wearing high heels in magazines are attending events,” reminds Jones, adding that they don’t do it for a long time. “So like them, try to keep your high-heeled, high-fashion shoes for a special occasion and stick to a more supportive shoe on a daily basis.”

Source of the image: Photl.com.