Pregnancy can permanently change a mother's bones, study finds

BOSTON - A new study finds pregnancy can permanently change a mother's body right down to the bones.

Anthropologists at New York University looked at the bones of rhesus monkeys which share 93-percent of genes with humans. They found that the female monkeys who had been pregnant had lower levels of calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus in their bones, likely related to giving birth itself as well as lactation. 

It's not clear what effect these changes have on bone health but demonstrate that the skeleton is not a static or dead organ. Instead, it's one that changes with life events.