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Too Big for Your Pregnant Shoes

Have Your Feet Grown During Pregnancy?

By Laura Cone

Most women have their skinny clothes hanging in their closet next to their bigger sizes, but until she becomes pregnant, a woman's shoe size is one of the few items in her wardrobe that remains constant.

While a woman is pregnant, she may need a new shoe wardrobe to go with her maternity clothes, as her feet may seem to grow during pregnancy. However, Dr. Christine Dobrowolski, a podiatrist in Eureka, Calif., says a woman's feet do not really grow during pregnancy.

"They may seem like they are growing, but the arches collapse and the feet widen and lengthen," says Dr. Dobrowolski, the author of Those Aching Feet: Your Guide to Diagnosis and Treatment of Common Foot Problems (Ski Publishing, 2005).

Dr. Dobrowolski says some women may need to adjust their shoe size by only a half size while other women may not be able to squeeze into a shoe that is two sizes larger than their normal shoes.

Lori Cooper of Sterling, Va., now expecting her third child, says she normally wears a size 7 1/2. Most women can get away with wearing a half size larger or a wider shoe during their pregnancies. Instead of buying new shoes, Cooper wears sandals, which works well for her because her main exercise is to take casual strolls.

"I've had swelling," Cooper says. "It started about two weeks ago and I'm due in three weeks. You can soak your feet in a bath, put your feet up or put ice packs on your feet."

She says being on a high-protein diet has helped prevent much of the water retention that exacerbates swelling. "I had gestational diabetes with my first child, so I try to eat a higher protein and a lower-carbohydrate diet," says Cooper.

Dr. Joshua Kaye, a podiatrist in Los Angeles, Calif., says he was surprised to learn about the growing foot phenomena years ago when he was in medical school.

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• Talk about it!

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