POSTURE AND MOVEMENT IN PREGNANCY

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects caused by increasing weight of maternal abdomen on the vertebral column. We study this argument because women with typical pathologies of vertebral column as scoliosis present, after pregnancy, a worsening of pathology. The progression of scoliosis in pregnant patients presents one of the most debatable and not yet clarified topic for the inherent hazard for mother and fetus in the traditional X-ray examination. For this work, the posture and movement of six pregnant subjects, three females bearing an artificial abdomen and two men too, have been analyzed using a particular equipment (EL.I.TE) that is not dangerous for patients. We analyze also the effects on the abdominal skin (ladders) due to the abdomen extension for fetus development studying a function which gives an approximation of abdominal profile, using a hydrodynamic model, to calculate the volume and the weight of the abdomen in the different pregnancy periods and also to analyze the causes of ladders.