Barefoot and pregnant used to be the kind of unfortunate circumstances that forlorn Dickens heroines would find themselves in, and a term that our grans would use to scare us off skipping school to mess around with boys. Nowadays, barefoot and pregnant is something to aspire to!
Fingers crossed, I'll be between five and seven months pregnant during July to September, and with forecasts suggesting it's going to be a hot summer, I very much hope to be barefoot and pregnant, skipping through flower meadows or strolling down my favourite beach in Cornwall.
And for the rest of the time - you know, those days when I'll be heading out into the grimy London streets, schlepping my way to meetings and back, all the time dreaming of warm sandy beaches and summer flower meadows - there's Vivo Barefoot by Terra Plana, my favourite ethical shoe brand.
Did you know that each foot has 28 bones and 200,000 nerve endings? I know that right now, if you're pregnant, it can easily feel as though there are twice as many, and especially on a hot day when swollen feet can feel fit to burst. Comfort is key, and that's what Vivo Barefoot is trying to achieve, in the most natural way possible.
"As close as you can get to going barefoot in the city," says the blurb. The secret ingredient is an ultra thin sole, which is claimed to allow your feet to work as though they were naked, stimulating every nerve ending as you walk, encouraging the appropriate sensory connection with your knees, hips, spine brain and the ground, and helping to develop a more natural movement that's better for your feet and your posture. It's like going barefoot, apparently, but without the risk of gluing your tootsies to old chewing gum splats.
Confession time; I'm roadtesting a pair of Vivo Barefoot summer sandals right now, the Candy, pictured here. I've been wearing them for seven hours straight, walked around the block and down the garden, and while I've yet to feel the full benefit, they are definitely one comfortable pair of shoes.
Have you found a comfortable pair of pregnancy shoes that don't look like something your mum sent you to school in when you were five? Tell us about them here.