Impacts of Pregnancy on Lumbar Proprioceptive Changes and Biomechanical Diversion of Gait

Pregnancy is a normal physiologic evidence wherein some dramatic variations in body weight, ligamental stability and muscular strenght would result in alteration of mothers’ gait. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between lumbar properioception in each trimester of pregnancy and after-delivery period (up to 4.5 months) with kinetics of gait. This research was a prospective study which began from the first trimester and followed during the second and third trimester and also after delivery. 35 healthy pregnant women were evaluated. In each session the lumbar properioception was meassured in 45 degrees of flexion repositioning and kinetics of stance phase were also evaluated. It was found that the lumbar properioception accuracy was significantly decreased while the progression of pregnancy (P=0.01). From the lumbar properioception accuracy point of view, subjects were divided into 3 groups. The trend of variations during the pregnancy period was statistically significant between all these groups. This decreasing trend in lumbar properioception has significant correlation with reducing the speed of walking, and increasing the vertical ground reaction force. There was a significant relation between lumbar properioception accuracy and kinetics of gait. We suggest further researches to reveal more precisely the effect of walking on lumbar properioception and its role subsiding and preventing the pregnancy-related low back pain.