The Right Athletic Shoes for Pregnancy

Skate Shoes
Creative Commons License photo credit: Fire At Will [Photography]

Pregnancy can be hard on your feet. Even during the early stages of pregnancy, changes to the hormones in your body can create aches and pains in all sorts of places. Your feet can start to swell during the first trimester, and by the end they’re often positively painful.

Further complicating the matter is the fact that more and more women are working during pregnancy, often causing you to stand on your feet for hours at a time. What was an inconvenience prior to pregnancy can be almost debilitating during pregnancy.

Until recently, however, there hasn’t been much attention paid to the podiatric needs of pregnant women, especially those who live an active lifestyle.

One company is seeking to change that situation. New Life Shoes has developed a shoe specifically designed for pregnant women.

This athletic shoe has a number of characteristics that should make them more comfortable, including breathability, support, and a fit that changes with the pregnant woman’s foot. The shoe uses a fastening system known as “Z-Fit” that will let the woman tighten or loosen the shoe with a single hand. There is also a cushioning system made up of five layers, and parts of the cushion system can be removed to accommodate a swelling foot.

There’s plenty of potential in the business. Around 4.3 million in the United States become pregnant each year. Just a small slice of that market could generate millions of dollars of revenue.

The company intends to explore offering shoes for other medical-related issues, beyond just the maternity wear marketplace. They’re also developing other styles of shoes for pregnant women, beyond just the athletic shoe.

What’s also interesting about these shoes is that they’re not being promoted through traditional marketing channels. The manufacturer is relying on bloggers and social media to get the word out.

So far, it seems to be working just fine.

What do you think? Would you consider buying shoes specifically designed for pregnancy, if you knew they could help your feet be more comfortable?

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