During the days when I am pregnant, I always have a lot of difficulties getting into good sleeping positions as my tummy gets bigger. My doctor advised me to try different sleeping positions and introduce me to using a pregnancy pillow. However, it is overwhelming as there are so many choices in the market. I have done my homework and created this comprehensive pregnancy pillow guide for your convenience.
Table of Contents
Here is the list of our recommended pregnancy pillow
A pregnancy pillow acts as a pillow or cushion for pregnant women. There are many different types of pregnancy pillow in different shapes and sizes. They all provide support and helps pregnant women to get into a good sleeping position for better quality sleep.
When you are into your latter stages of pregnancy, it is just not suitable to sleep on your tummy. Most doctors will also not advise you to sleep on your back. You may like to check some tips we have about Sleeping with Pillow Between Legs While Pregnant
The main idea of a maternity pillow is to provide you with support when you lie on the side during resting. Normally the maternity pillow is the size of your body with one end going under your arm or head while the other goes between your legs. The middle part is used to support your stomach. (Source)
Technically there is no particular time to start using a maternity pillow and it is entirely up to you. Based on my own personal experience and feedbacks from mummies in forums, most of them start using maternity pillow after their first trimester or around week 16 of pregnancy.
It all depends on the individual. If you are still having quality sleep without any support, you can do without the maternity pillow. However, I would just recommend you standby one just in case you need it in the near future.
There are many reasons why you should not sleep on your back while pregnant. When your tummy grows bigger, this sleeping position may cause stress to organs like liver, affect blood circulation which causes dizziness. (Source)
It can also reduce the amount of nutrients and blood to the foetus and other issues. The worst thing to happen is increasing the chance of stillbirth. You may like to check with your doctor on the best sleeping position.
There are a few different types of a pregnancy pillow with different shape and sizes and I would run through what is the difference between all of them. I will touch more on full body pregnancy pillow( U shaped pregnancy pillow), C Shaped pregnancy pillow and pregnancy wedge pillow.
The answer to which shape pregnancy pillow is best really depends and varies among each individual. You may have a better understanding after I have explained the different functions and benefits for these pregnancy pillows.
Full body pregnancy pillow which has another term called the U-shaped pregnancy body pillow is designed to wrap all around you. It can prop you up if you are a back sleeper or provide support front and back when you are sleeping on your side after the 1st trimester. They provide the most support to the whole of your body.
Full body maternity pillow is designed to follow the natural and contour shape of your body. It provides support for pregnant women like the back, knees, neck and head. If you are having difficulty getting to sleep on the side, a full body maternity pillow may help to solve your problem.
Many mummies have faced the challenges of having back pain during pregnancy periods due to the weight of the tummy. I also have these types of difficulties when I was into the 2nd or 3rd trimester. The good news is that a good full body pregnancy pillow with some pregnancy pillow positioning techniques can help to alleviate most of the pain.
C shaped pregnancy pillow which is named liked its shape provide almost the same function as a U shaped full body pillow. It helps to support your body, knee, hip and head but the size is not as big and bulky.
As both C and U shaped pregnancy pillow provides almost the same function, the key difference is that the U shaped pregnancy pillow is able to wrap around your body because of its size and provided all rounded support for your whole body. C shaped pregnancy pillow is just like a smaller version which will be more suitable if you do not have a lot of space in your bed.
The pregnancy wedge pillow is wedge-shaped support cushions that help you to reduce back strains when slid under your belly. It is smaller than a typical full body pillow and helps to support individual parts of your body like the head, neck, back or knees.
Pregnancy wedge pillows are helpful for pregnant mummies who just need a little support to get to sleep. Unlike full body pregnancy pillows, pregnancy wedge pillows tend to provide support to just one part of your body.
It really depends on the individual mummy if she needs a full body support that wraps around the body or just a wedge pillow that slides under or behind you to provide the support you need. Wedge pillows are also smaller in size and less bulky compared to a full body pregnancy pillow.
For pregnancy wedge pillow, normally you can use it in the upright position to provide some support and comfort while sitting or lying down on the bed. It can help you to prop up to sleep in a slightly elevated position. You can also use it to provide elevated support for your legs.
For the best full body pregnancy pillow, I would highly recommend the Leachco Snoogle Original Total Body Pillow. This gargantuan Leachco pregnancy pillow is very comfortable and provides a lot of support if you are having back pains while sleeping. The patented design of this pillow is made by a nurse and mom so you are pretty sure that it is made for mummies in mind.
Even more, because of the length of the pillow, it is also suitable for taller mummies. Another plus point is that this pillow can be used after your pregnancy to provide back support for you or other family members. If you get in the right position with it between your legs and around the neck, it provides really great back support.
The only downside for this pillow is that if your bed is small, your spouse may complain that it is too big and bulky. Changing the cover is also quite a hassle and you may need to be careful not to rip the pillow when trying to put the cover back on.
If you are looking for the best maternity pillow for back pain, the pillow must be able to provide equal support for your belly and back at the same time. Leachco Back ‘N Belly Pregnancy Contoured Body pillow is the first and true belly and back pregnant pillow in the market.
The comfortable and soft pillow conforms right to your body, providing perfect support on both sides for back and belly. Since the pillow wraps around your body, you will not have to move the pillow while changing sides. This will keep you from lying flat on the back. Because of the size of the pillow, it will be more suitable for usage on King sized beds.
See it on Amazon
If you are looking for the best pregnancy pillow for hip pain, one of the most popular models in the market is the ComfiLife Knee Pillow. This ergonomically designed knee pillow fits comfortably between your knees and provides maximum support and comfort at night that helps relieve sciatica pain and pressure on the lower back.
Hip pain is normally caused by misalignment when you are sleeping on your side. ComfiLife Knee Pillow have the perfect thickness and when placed between your legs helps to make sure your hips are completely aligned. This pillow is also suitable for petite size mummies looking for a product that is not too large.
It functions as well as a body pillow so you can sleep without a big body pillow between you and your husband. The downside of this pillow is that it is not as breathable and can get a bit hot.
Get it now at Amazon.com
For the best cooling maternity pillow in the market, the Today’s Mom Coolmax Pregnancy Pillow may be the rare few to have a cooling function. COOLMAX fabric pulls moisture away from your skin, absorbs and spreads moisture out across fabric to enhance evaporative drying rate.
The breathable pillow helps to keep your body cool and dry. Besides providing great support for your back and shoulder, it also is a multi-purpose pillow which you can use as a nursing pillow when the baby is born. This pillow will take up exactly half of your queen size bed so you may have to factor that in when deciding on this product.
This boppy pregnancy pillow is one of the best pregnancy pillows for plus size mummies. The one-piece maternity pillow is designed to provide maximum support for your head, neck, back, hip and baby bump. It has a unique contour shape designed to use for multiple weeks of comfort.
This will make a great gift for expecting mummy in 2nd or 3rd trimester
To sum it up, I have tried Leachco Snoogle Original Total Body Pillow and it works great for me. I recommend it to my friends and relatives. If you have any great maternity pillow that is not mentioned, do comment below so I can update the list to benefit everyone. You may also keen on the related article: 27 baby items list with pictures for first time parents
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