Influence of heel height on gait during pregnancy and features the pregnant women's gait

Abstract

Weight increase and the body changes during pregnancy exert various influences on walking. A few studies have been undertaken on the biomechanics associated with gait of pregnant women. Although a previous study reported that ankle joint plantar flexor moment of 3-cm high-heeled shoes was smaller than that of flat shoes during level walking with a simulation pregnancy jacket, the study was not conducted using real pregnant women. The purpose of this study was to compare gait among three pregnant women. We investigated lower extremities' joint moments and gait parameters when subjects walked wearing shoes with a flat sole and 3-cm high-heels using six force plates and a three-dimensional motion analysis system. The results showed that a distinctive effect of pregnancy on walking was observed in two of the pregnant women. Also, ankle joint plantar flexor moment when pregnant women walked wearing 3-cm high-heeled shoes was smaller than that when using shoes with a flat sole. This result suggests that using 3-cm high-heeled shoes decreases excessive ankle plantar flexors loads.