Kate Middleton criticised for putting her pregnancy at risk.

If it’s not her skirt length, it’s something else.

It’s hard being a pregnant woman.

Judgement from friends, family and even strangers can be daunting. For some reason everyone feels they have a right to comment on your coffee and soft cheese consumption, attendance at pre natal aqua aerobics…

Now imagine the ENTIRE world weighing in on your choices.

That’s the situation for Kate Middleton and really, I think it’s time we all backed off.

The latest issue up for public debate is Kate's choice of footwear. Particularly, the shoes she chose for her recent three day tour of New York with husband William. Being the stylish lass that she is, five-month pregnant Kate was often seen wearing some awesome heels.

Cue outrage.

This has prompted several media outlets and doctors to publicly criticise Kate and suggest that pregnant women should never wear heels due to an increased risk of falls and muscle strain.

Dr. Isaac Tabari of the NYC Podiatry Center of Excellence told the New York Daily News, “The risk of stress fractures, bursitis and capsulitis (inflammed ligaments) are increased when a pregnant woman routinely wears heels. Pregnant women should not wear high heels every day."

Frankly, I take my hat off to Kate. I wore heels once when I was about 8 months pregnant to a friend's wedding. I lasted about an hour and then took the classy barefoot option. If Kate wants to wear heels and she's able to do so it's actually no one else's business.

And who's to know (or care) whether Kate pops out on an official visit for an hour or so in some killer heels and then slips straight back into some crocs for the car ride home?

Australian specialists seem to agree with shelving the heels while expecting.

Brendan Brown, from the Australian Podeitry Association says, “Wearing high heels at any time is an injury risk but this is significantly increased when pregnant, particularly in the later stages as you gain weight and body mass, which affects balance and puts stress on the feet and ankles. The overall action of high heels on the foot and lower limb is to restrict movement. There is no foot flex and this means lower limbs have reduced fluid and blood flow. In addition hormones are also in play, filling the blood stream and ligaments to allow the lower back, hips and abdomen to move and grow with the pregnancy. These hormones also affect the feet and ankles diminishing ankle strength and causing swelling."

Mr Brown also advises against wearing thongs and ballet flats while pregnant. “A flip flop gives no support to the foot and when you are carrying a heavy load, you need all the support you can get. So I advise when pregnant to also stay away from flat shoes that don’t support the foot – especially thongs.   You need a shoe with a slight heel that encloses the foot and gives it support. Ballet flats should also be avoided.”

I don't know about you but my shoe wardrobe basically consists of ballet flats, thongs and a couple of pairs of heels. It seems there's a pretty limited scope for choice here.

Can you imagine if poor Kate chose a decent pair of 'Easy Steps' or 'Hush Puppies' for her trip to the U.S? Instead of the current up-roar over her shoes the headlines would instead tear apart her fashion choices.

She can't win.

I'm just going to hazard a guess here and say that Queen Lizzy has probably hooked Kate up with some pretty decent medical supervision. If there was a significant risk posed to the royal unborn, I'm thinking it may have been brought up. Oh, and Kate travelled around New York City with her own personal ambulance so it's fair to say she is being looked after exceptionally well.

So maybe unless you're charged with the responsibility of caring for Kate and the royal hub during the pregnancy, keep your medical opinions to yourself.

What do you think? Did you wear heels while pregnant?

Doctors, don't click through this gallery of Kate in heels while on tour in New York, it will offend you.

Want more? Try:

A warning to all parents, this is not safe for your children.

The celebrity body women and men want are so so different.