A Longitudinal Analysis Of Pregnant Gait Throughout Pregnancy And Post-partum

Objective: The physique changes during pregnancy could lead to gait characteristics variation.This study was aimed to analyze pregnancy gait throughout pregnancy and post-partum.This research also attempted to reveal the gait change during pregnancy from biomechanical perspective.Method: Twelve healthy pregnant women volunteered to take part in the experiment,analyzing lower limb kinematics through Vicon three-dimensional motion system.In addition,a Kistler force platform and Novel Emed force plate were used to record lower limb kinetics.The data was utilized for statistical analysis with the SPSS 19.0(SPSS Inc.,Chicago,IL,USA).Results:(1)Kinematics: The results showed that the stride length and velocity decreased during the third trimester compared with post-partum(P=0.043,P=0.039).With the progression of gestational weeks,the percent of stance phase in gait also has increase.There are no changes in the stride width during pregnancy.The pelvic anterior tilt in pregnancy shows significant increase compared post-partum.The hip flexion angle increases obviously as progressing of gestational weeks,particularly in the initial contact phase.The peak adduction angle of hip in stance increase greatly compared post-partum with third trimester.The hip extension angle and the ankle inversion rotation angle decrease during the stance of third trimester.(2)Kinetics: The vertical and anteriorposterior component of the ground reaction forces(GRF)were obviously higher in the third trimester than post-partum.Obvious increases were detected in the peak of anterior and posterior reaction forces during the third trimester compared with post-partum.With the increasing time associated with pregnancy,mean plantar pressure of the third metatarsal region and arch of the foot contact area increased.The centre of pressure(COP)curve transfers from medial heel to lateral heel during pregnancy but shift straightly during post-partum.The postural stability was decreases in the initial contact and foot flat phase during pregnancy.Conclusion: Above all,research shows that pregnant women have biomechanical adjustments that help keep stability during pregnancy.While walking,pregnant women should decrease stride length and velocity.Additionally,women can strengthen lower back and pelvic to increase muscle strength during pre-pregnancy.The shoes that have great arch support were selected during pregnancy.