Abstract:

In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of abdominal pants for pregnant women and their feelings when wear the abdominal pants, this study conducts a series of experiments taking the design structure of this kinds of pants as the breakthrough point. In particular, with the help of 3-D motion capture instrument, data on hip joint angle changes during exercise were collected for pregnant women. As a benchmark, the size of the maximum hip angle difference was comprehensively compared during the lower limb movement between pregnant women and non-pregnant ones using single factor analysis of variance and significance test, along with subjective evaluation experiments. Findings suggest that with the increase of gestational age, their abdominal circumference and pregnant belly weight increase. Consequently, the hip angle will increase when doing exercise. Therefore, the effectiveness of abdominal pants can be judged based on the corresponding hip joint angle data. That is, the smaller the hip joint angle is, the more effective of the abdominal pants is. Finally, on the basis of the existing style of pregnant women's abdominal pants, the improvement plan is put forward to help pregnant women to improve their quality of life.

Key words: maternity pants, abdominal pants, abdominal effect, 3-D motion capture, hip joint angle