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The Insider Pick:
Pregnancy is a beautiful, magical time in a woman's life. But it sure isn't fun trying to get some rest when you have a veritable bowling ball where your tummy used to be. A good pregnancy pillow can help support a mother's growing belly and take the strain off her back and joints. The Queen Rose Pregnancy and Maternity Pillow is our top choice because it's supportive, soft, and affordably priced.
When my wife was pregnant with our first child, getting a good night's rest became almost impossible for her by the middle of the second trimester. At first, it was heartburn that forced her to use large pillows that perched her up almost in a sitting position.
By the time the heartburn subsided, her belly had grown to such proportions that her days of stomach sleeping were done until after the birth. She had to adapt to side sleeping, a process which had us at first trying all manner of arranging the pillows we already head in the house, and which ultimately led to the purchase of several pregnancy pillows of varied size and design.
Long, large maternity pillows allow a woman to take some of the pressure off her body by supporting that growing belly, providing relief to both her back as well as her core and her abdomen. These pillows also allow for better alignment of the knees and hips, which reduces pressure on the spine and upper body. In other words, they help her feel almost normal and let the expectant mom get comfortable enough to actually sleep for a few hours now and then.
Now that we're well into our second pregnancy, the big pillows are back. This time, my wife was well prepared and set up what we call her pillow fort weeks before she even needed it, thus adapting more easily to sleeping on her side while flanked front and back by big tubes of supportive fluff before a huge baby belly forced a change in position.
Does she or any other very pregnant woman get a perfect night's sleep each and every night of the week? Oh hell no. But I can only imagine how much less rest she would get without the assist from a good pregnancy pillow.
And for the record, these pillows are also priceless for post-partum respite as a woman's body recovers, and they even work for nursing. It's never too late in a pregnancy to get a great maternity pillow, in other words!
SEE ALSO: The best body pillows you can buy
The best pregnancy pillow overall
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Why you'll love it: The Queen Rose Pregnancy and Maternity Pillow manages to be both soft and supportive thanks to a generous volume of high-density polyethylene filling.
The Queen Rose Pregnancy and Maternity Pillow can serve a mother well from the early months of the pregnancy through the entire infancy of their babies. It's flexible enough to loop around a mother's back while she sits up to nurse yet supportive enough to keep a belly propped up even in the ninth month of the pregnancy. It can be used on the couch, in bed, or anywhere else a woman needs some support.
While many pregnancy pillows give their support through firmness of material, this one does so thanks to a generous amount of soft polyethylene fill. That means it's also a genuinely comfortable pillow for the head and neck, making it suitable as the only pillow a pregnant woman uses while resting. It was also a slight improvement on the pillow fort approach we initially relied on for my wife.
The cover of the Queen Rose Pregnancy and Maternity Pillow is made from non-allergenic cotton and is machine washable, so it's easy to keep the pillow fresh and clean even if you use it away from home. Also, it's well priced, and any money you can save when you're adding a new family member is welcome indeed.
With more than 1,300 reviews posted at the time of this writing, the Queen Rose Pregnancy and Maternity Pillow scores a commendable 4.4-star average rating. One expectant mother was impressed that held "its shape perfectly even after months of daily use," while another raved that it was "nothing but a blessing."
A writer with MaternityAtHome called the Queen Rose pillow "fluffy and soft" and a "great price," while a Cozzy.org review called it ideal for supporting "those joints that cause the most pain."
Pros: Soft and supportive, washable cotton cover, good price point
Cons: Requires occasional re-fluffing and reshaping to work properly
The best low-cost pregnancy pillow
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Why you'll love it: At 60-inches long and 38-inches wide, the Yorkshire Home Pregnancy Support Pillow is large enough to accommodate even a taller woman all the way through a pregnancy.
The Yorkshire Home Pregnancy Support Pillow is a half-foot longer and more than a half-foot wider than many popular pregnancy pillows. Its extra large size allows even taller women with wider frames to comfortably balance their bellies and align their knees and hips, thus taking the strain off the lower back, spine, and shoulders during sleep.
The drawback to that generous size is that the pillow takes up much more than half the width of a standard queen-sized bed, as queen mattresses are usually 60-inches wide. Thus you'll need a very patient partner if you share a queen-sized bed. If you have a king-sized mattress, it will still take up about half of the bed because king mattresses are usually 76-inches wide.
The large size and 8.25-pound weight of this polyester filled, cotton-covered pillow also make it impractical to bring with you during travels, but later on in a pregnancy, most women are avoiding travel if at all possible anyway, so that's no great issue, and certainly not equal to the value of a good night of sleep at home. Also, let's not lose sight of the biggest selling point of this maternity pillow, which is the fact that it sells for less than $50.
One expectant mother who used the Yorkshire Home Pregnancy Support Pillow said it made a "huge difference" in her comfort level after she started using it during the 30th week of pregnancy. Another customer called it "comfortable" and said it provides "plenty of support."
Do also note, however, that some women reported the pillow as being too thin to give adequate belly support during late term pregnancy, though it can be fluffed fuller with a bit of effort.
Pros: Low price point, good choice for taller or larger women, 300-thread count cover
Cons: Too large for some beds, flattens out with use
The best strain-reducing pregnancy pillow
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Why you'll love it: The Leachco Back n Belly Chic Contoured Body Pillow helps you properly align and support your ankles, knees, hips, spine, and pregnant belly.
While the Leachco Back n Belly Chic Contoured Body Pillow is primarily marketed as a maternity pillow, in fact, many of the people who use are not only not pregnant women, but are in fact not even women at all. This large, generously stuffed pillow can help reduce the aches and pains associated with scoliosis, sciatica, chronic back pain, and more. It can also simply prop up a side sleeper who is looking for more comfort, no defined medical condition necessary.
As a maternity pillow, the Leachco Back n Belly Chic Contoured Pillow is a favorite of many expectant mothers thanks to its adaptability. The open ends of the pillow can be set farther apart when a shallower support is needed and can be layered over one another to create thicker, more supportive padding as the pregnancy progresses.
The soft fill allows a belly to settle in comfortably, while the blended cotton and polyester cover helps to wick away moisture and moderate body heat during rest.
After birth, this pillow can help a mother relax or sleep in comfort as her body recovers, easily shifting into varied positions as the healing progresses.
One mother appreciated how this pillow had "enough stuffing to actually support [her] belly," while another gushed that the Leachco Back n Belly Chic Contoured Pillow "has absolutely changed [her] comfort level at night."
A product tester from MyNaturalBabyBirth noted that Leachco pillows don't contain "chemicals in the fabric," while a video review from Andrea Wright said it offered "full body support."
Pros: Generous volume of filling, adjustable positioning, poly-cotton blend cover
Cons: Rather expensive option
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