I’ve tried nearly two dozen pillows over my five pregnancies, and recently, I rigorously tested 10 of the best pregnancy pillows in order to finally find the one. The clear winner, which remains in my bed and might even head to the hospital with me, is the Queen Rose U-Shaped Pregnancy Pillow. It features a velvety soft cover that doesn’t retain heat, plus it’s extra long, for head-to-toe comfort, and holds up night after night as the most supportive option.
I also recommend the Leachco Snoogle pregnancy pillow as exceptionally supportive and with less of a footprint, given its J-shape versus the Queen Rose’s U-shape, which is just too big for some. Finally, for those who prefer an extra small pregnancy pillow or just need less full-body support, the Belly Bandit S.O.S. Side Sleeper Pregnancy Wedge Pillow is tiny in comparison to the other picks but still provides excellent support and comfort. It has a unique back and belly support design and adjustable features.
Ease those maternal aches and pains with one of the best pregnancy pillows designed to support ... [+]
Anyone who has endured the 9-plus months of creating life likely recalls the sleepless nights, tossing and turning to get comfortable, not to mention the insomnia, reflux and other nighttime dilemmas. Then there’s the advice: Sleep now, before the baby comes. (Uh-huh, sure.) The one saving grace for pregnant people’s sleeptime woes often comes in a size extra large pregnancy pillow.
Read on for details about the best pregnancy pillows according to my many nights of testing, including the in-depth reviews of the Queen Rose pillow and the Leacho Snoogle. After reading this article, you also might want to check out the best tested
- Best Pregnancy Pillow Overall: Queen Rose U-Shaped Pregnancy Pillow
- Best J-shaped Pregnancy Pillow: Leachco Snoogle
- Best Small Pregnancy Pillow: Belly Bandit S.O.S. Side Sleeper Pregnancy Wedge Pillow
The Queen Rose was the clear best pregnancy pillow after testing, because it led to significant pain relief and improved my sleep even with third-trimester hip and back pain, knee and leg pain and some slight heartburn. It miraculously attacks all of these issues at once, partially because it is truly a head-to-toe pillow, allowing for ergonomically correct alignment all the way down to your feet. Though I’ve long followed Dr. Amir Marashi, an OB-GYN and founder of Cerē, advice to have a pillow between my knees, I’ve found that having one that extends down to my feet as well keeps my hips well aligned. The U-shaped pregnancy pillow in general is the obvious winner of the rollability test, as there’s support available on either side, no matter how you roll. “I like a U-shaped pillow because you don’t have to move it from side to side when you toss and turn,” adds Carson Meyer, a birth doula and founder of C & The Moon skincare line, who has worked with celebrity moms, “and you can try it upside down with additional pillows for your head or right side up on its own.”
A Shockingly Cozy Velvet Cover
Before testing, I’d have said not to come anywhere near me with the word “velvet,” as I’ve endured many sweaty pregnancy nights thanks to hormones. But this one aced my cooling test, proving that it extracts heat quickly rather than absorbing it. Plus, the velvet is extra cozy on your face, arms, legs and even feet, making getting into bed feel more like a luxury. For those who aren’t fans of velvet, you can choose a cotton cover instead.
When it comes to the filling material, Katie Elks, director of design and product development at Brooklinen, says to look for polyester filling, such as with the Queen Rose. “For interiors, wool-filled items can help regulate temperature. Alternatively, down or down-alternative items (such as a polyester fill) are breathable, too, as there is a lot of air captured in the pillow,” she says. For me, the filling provided the perfect level of support, not becoming lumpy like some other options after a few nights of use.
The Perfect Firmness
Testing pregnancy pillows felt like a case of Goldilocks—too big, too small, too squishy, too firm. But the Queen Rose pregnancy pillow is just right. At first feel, it seems almost too firm, but you realize after just a few minutes of lying on it that it adapts to your body, supporting all the joints that need it the most in pregnancy.
Some of the most helpful support areas include the knees to feet section, which didn’t taper off too early for my 5-foot-9 frame (I tested the 65-inch pillow) and kept my hips and legs supported at the same level, parallel to each other. The elevated head and neck area meant that I didn’t have to stack an additional pillow on top to combat reflux, which as much as 45% of pregnant women experience. Finally, the belly section of the pillow is the perfect height to support but not over-support the belly at all stages of pregnancy.
There are specific benefits to opting for a J- or C-shaped pillow, which can sometimes look similar when you are shopping. Samantha Jacobsen, a physical therapist who works with perinatal women and athletes, explains that these pillows are meant for the front of your body and between the legs, to support the head, belly and pelvis, and they are almost alike, except the J-shaped pillows don’t curl up between your legs as much as the C-shaped (though with a simple hack below, this one can).
An Extra Curl That Makes All The Difference
The Snoogle pillow, created by a mom and nurse, features an accentuated J-shape, which means one end of the pillow curves into almost a complete circle. This extra curvature is helpful to multiple body parts, completely surrounding the head and neck even if you roll from side to side all night. Similarly, if you flip it over, it curves up and between your legs to support your knees, butt and back, without the bulk of a U-shaped pillow. That makes the extra curve in a J-shaped pillow like this worth it to some, for its versatility.
An Extra Cool Pillow
In the cooling test, this pillow showed both the fastest and the highest total temperature drop, demonstrating that it released heat quickly and completely. I gauged temperature release using a water bottle heated to body temperature, measuring how quickly pillows cooled in 5-minute increments. The Snoogle will not lead to any extra sweating or heat retention at night, which is essential in pregnancy.
The difference in this pillow’s support when you put it behind or in front of you means that you have many more options than with symmetrical pillows. This is helpful as your needs change throughout pregnancy. At some point, you may find that back support is more important to you, and later on, belly support might be crucial. Even postpartum, this type of pillow can be rolled up to support you behind your back, or wrapped around you as a support during breastfeeding.
One way to get a little relief from lying on your side and hips all night is to lean back slightly or lean forward slightly. But this isn’t always a natural position to maintain on your own, so this pillow creatively solves that problem. By placing the triangle behind your back, it creates a backrest, similar to the feeling of having a supportive chair at a sports event in the bleachers, rather than no lower back support. In addition, the front is a wedge that goes underneath the belly, sloping up and away at an angle.
The Belly Bandit S.O.S. Side Sleeper Pregnancy Wedge Pillow is adjustable to fit the wearer.
Adjustable To Get The Right Positioning For You
In testing all of these pillows, I was surprised at the overall lack of adjustability of the bunch—most are pretty standard for a “typical” frame, but if that’s not you or your bump, you might be out of luck. This Belly Bandit pregnancy pillow, however, accounts for all bodies with a genius adjustable Velcro strap that allows you to add or take away the space between the belly and back support. As you progress through your pregnancy, this becomes essential, as your bump undoubtedly gets bigger, and you might also want more or less support right up against your body. The only downside of the adjustable strap is that you have to be precise in adjusting it or you might feel that scratchy Velcro on your skin.
Extra Firm Support
This is by far the firmest pillow of all the ones I tested, with hardly any give, which is a must-have if you are leaning your whole weight into the backrest. The Velcro strap keeps the two pillows perfectly positioned at the right level of separation, so neither is getting tangled in your sheets at night. The belly cushion might be too firm for some, but if you are having serious round ligament pain, it might be just what you need to wedge under your bump. You can also detach the wedge to use as an elevated neck pillow. Marashi explains that he often tells patients not to lie down completely flat if they are having heartburn or reflux. “Most beds don’t have an incline, but that would be the best. You can lift the back of your bed by about 30 degrees,” he adds. You can mock this up with half of your Belly Bandit pillow if you don’t have an adjustable bed that inclines.
Other wedge pillows that I tested were either too firm and at the wrong angle (like the Hiccapop), or too squishy, like the Boppy. They also didn’t allow for necessary adjustment based on size and preferences. One word of warning: If you constantly roll throughout the night, avoid this pillow. It doesn’t allow for much back-and-forth rolling without adjusting it to rearrange where the belly and back support is located.
Not all the pregnancy pillows I tested proved comfortable or supportive.
Other Pregnancy Pillows I Tested
Boppy Side Sleeper Pregnancy Pillow: This small, dog-bone-shaped pillow is like a less adjustable version of the small pregnancy pillow chosen above, the Belly Bandit. It is exceptionally squishy and didn’t perform well throughout the night, offering less support than its competitors. This might be ideal for someone who wants minimal support and is on the thinner side; the width is not meant to adjust to accommodate larger sizes.
Hiccapop Pregnancy Pillow Wedge: This simple pregnancy wedge only provides belly support, but does so in a simple and firm way. Though it didn’t help with enough pain points compared to its competitors, it might work as an affordable budget buy if only your bump needs a boost, at $27. Beware: It’s quite firm and at a bit of a more unforgiving angle than other bump support wedges.
Babybub Bub’s Maternity Pillow: This pillow tries to do it all with multiple configurations and pieces that are quite adjustable. But with a less comfortable cover than the competition and an unsupportive feel on crucial joints that need help, it didn’t hold up to some difficult nights. A supplementary mini pillow comes with it to use under your bump or elsewhere, but I found it too small and unsupportive. One additional tester told me, “I feel way too ‘locked in’ in the Babybub, and I basically have to wrestle with it in order to roll over, which winds up waking me up more than I want to be.”
PharMeDoc Full Body Pregnancy Pillow: This asymmetrical U-shaped body pillow has a longer and a shorter side, which means that if you roll, you might roll right away from good support to the smaller side. This was an issue for me throughout the night. You’d have to get up mid-sleep to completely flip the pillow if you wanted to maintain sleeping with the larger side between your knees (or vice versa). It was also a bit too short for me, at 5-foot-9. I had to work to keep my knees supported, and it left me without support down to my feet.
Momcozy U-Shaped Cooling Fabric Pregnancy Pillow: Similar to the PharMeDoc, this otherwise U-shaped pillow features one slightly shorter side of the U, making it difficult to get full support from both sides. It was the lumpiest pillow I tested, with the filling unevenly distributed by the second night of sleep. The pillow squishes down too much for adequate support, so my knees and therefore hips and pelvis didn’t stay parallel and separated. In spite of the cooling claims, it also didn’t perform as well as others at dissipating heat. It only cooled by 1 degree in the first 5 minutes of the cooling test, while others cooled up to 11.4 degrees.
Boppy Total Body Pillow: This unique C-shaped pregnancy pillow from Boppy offers a hinging “joint” in the middle, which makes it easier to fold. If you want to have just one pillow for breastfeeding, sitting up in bed and sleeping, this would help with that. However, as a pregnancy pillow, it wasn’t supportive, nor was it long enough to accommodate the belly bump in the intended location (my belly hit at a strange place and got in the way).
Meiz Pregnancy Pillow: This strong runner-up for the best pregnancy pillow overall features an extra long and symmetrical design. Its supportive structure helps joints from head to toe and holds up well over multiple uses. It performed well in the cooling test with the second-fastest initial temperature drop of over 10 degrees in 5 minutes. It’s also easy to roll around inside its borders with equal support on both sides. The winner slightly outperformed this one with superior head and neck support, as well as with its overall cozier exterior and feel.
Besides comfort and support, I also gauged how much the pregnancy pillows trapped heat or cooled ... [+]
How I Tested The Best Pregnancy Pillows
To determine which features were most important in a pregnancy pillow, I asked the experts, who pointed to necessary support for achy joints. All of my top picks withstood multiple nights of testing for at least 9 hours of sleep (well, “sleep” between bathroom trips), during the second and third trimesters of my fifth pregnancy. I tried to determine which would hold up and provide comfortable stability, rather than smooshing down into an unhelpful heap.
Marashi explains why support matters in the quest for the best pregnancy pillow: “You get a lot of musculoskeletal pain during pregnancy, and it’s not just back pain, knee pain—it’s everywhere,” he says. “You have a hormone called relaxin, so basically all of your joints are getting much more relaxed to help you better accommodate this baby that’s growing…but you can pull things much easier as well, and it can cause pain for you.” He adds that weight gain, though normal in pregnancy, can put stress on your back and pressure on your knees. Finally, your sleeping position can become “distorted” in pregnancy, as you try to accommodate your bigger belly.
Side sleeping is often recommended for better blood flow, but he recommends switching sides for optimal pain relief. “Both sides are good. You have to switch from side to side,” he adds, for help with those aching hips. In addition, he recommends a pillow between the knees to alleviate back pain, opting for something “not flimsy.”
Jacobsen adds that wedge-style pillows placed under the belly can alleviate round ligament pain, which happens near the abs, hips or groin and is a normal part of growing and stretching. “Your round ligament is a uterine attachment that stretches as your belly grows and can become painful. Supporting the belly to minimize the amount of stretch may assist in some pain relief,” she says, adding that it can also go under your neck when you start to have heartburn, and these are sometimes popular because they take up less space.
All of these issues are part of what makes sleep so elusive during pregnancy. One study shows that 77% of pregnant people reported sleep issues—some throughout pregnancy, but most commonly in the third trimester. This not only impacts nighttime, but also being at your best the next day, when you may need to chase other kids around and be productive at work.
With this expert advice in mind, I identified 10 of the best pregnancy pillows that met the necessary criteria and were recommended by other reviewers. I then tested each pillow keeping these key criteria in mind:
- Shape: I tested a variety of types of pregnancy pillows, including U-shaped, which go down both sides of the body and behind the neck; J-shaped, which support one side of the body at a time; C-shaped, which go under your neck and knees and can double as a behind-the-back lounging pillow; and various types of smaller wedge pillows.
- Comfort: I watched for pillows I really wanted to sleep with again the next night. The best ones were comfortable, alleviated pain and discomfort and also possessed the right amount of firmness, with a little give.
- Support: I explored how well pillows held up throughout the night, and in the right places, offering support for the neck, belly and back, knees and lower legs.
- Strength: Nobody wants a saggy pillow by the time they hit the third trimester. I kept an eye on how well the pillows held up through multiple uses.
- Rollability: This was a tough one. The pillows had to support me even as I rolled around all night. Some pillows make it harder than others to move freely without having to reset every time.
- Materials: I chose pillows that had fabric and filling that easily cooled, as indicated in a cooling test, in which I placed a water bottle heated to body temperature on the pillow, and then tested how quickly the product cooled in 5-minute increments, up to 15 minutes, monitoring total cooling and cooling speed. I looked for 100% cotton wherever possible, which fabric expert Elks explained was extremely breathable. But I also chose some pillows that had a super cozy cover, like the winner’s velvet one.
I also sent the best performing pregnancy pillows to two additional pregnant moms, both of who were shorter than me at 5-foot-3 each to solicit their feedback on which pillow offered the best support for them.
How To Pick The Best Pregnancy Pillow
A pregnancy pillow, like the pregnancy experience itself, is highly individual. What works for your pregnant bestie might not work for you. For that reason, it’s essential to do your research, zoning in on exactly which areas you need the most support in, as well as thinking about your current sleeping setup and available room, fabric preferences and if you might want to use the pillow in other scenarios or in postpartum life as well. Here’s what to look for in a pregnancy pillow.
Determine Which Areas Need Support
Maybe your belly is bothering you and you just need some support under it, but your typical bed pillows are too big. The wedge pregnancy pillow might be for you. Or maybe you need full-body support from head to toe, in which case you might want a full-body pillow, especially a pregnancy pillow that’s extra long, for support through your legs and feet. “If you’re having a hard time deciding which shape and size of pillow to buy, it’s recommended to first try to give yourself support with the pillows you have at home,” Jacobsen says. “Place a pillow underneath your head, underneath your belly, between your hips/knees and a smaller one against the small of your back. From there, decide where you feel like you need the support and where the support feels a little excessive.”
The Flexibility To Move Around
If you find yourself moving constantly at night, avoid pillows that are difficult to move or that need adjusting each time you roll. You’ll end up throwing it on the ground halfway through the night anyway, resulting in a waste of money and some added frustration. But if you roll less often, you have more choices on which pillows you can pick from.
Cool And Comfortable Fabrics
Selecting pregnancy pillows that are 100% cotton with removable covers and polyester filling is most recommended for a cool night with optimal support, Elks says. But cozier fabrics like the lightweight velvet cover on the Queen Rose might make you feel more comfortable as well. Choose pillows that have cooling features when possible, if you run hot in pregnancy.
Versatility
It can feel like a waste to spend close to $100 on a pillow that you might use for less than a year, especially if you don’t expect to have additional pregnancies. If this is the case, keep an eye on options that might serve you well at the hospital and in the postpartum weeks as well. Some smaller pregnancy pillows can double as breastfeeding pillows, wrapped around your hips while sitting up to nurse your baby. Others might be cozy additions to your couch in the postpartum days, where you spend lots of time binging shows, holding your baby and recovering. It’s also possible that you’ll continue to crave a body pillow when no longer pregnant now that you’re a converted side sleeper. In that case, this purchase might offer you some longevity after all.
My Expertise
As a mom of soon-to-be five children, who happens to also be obsessed with perinatal and baby products, I’ve dedicated hundreds of nights to testing more than 20 pillow options through my nearly 50 months of pregnancy altogether. I’ve navigated propping up dozens of pillows into clever positions to mitigate nighttime reflux; tossed and turned with pillows that were just too smooshy to support my pelvis, hip and back; and wedged many pillows under my growing belly and behind my back trying to get comfortable, always looking for some miracle that could cure the inevitable aches and pains of pregnancy. As a product journalist, I also see and test a steady stream of new products coming out and was excited to try some of the pregnancy pillows that I hadn’t explored in the past.
I interviewed experts like Dr. Amir Marashi, an OB-GYN and founder of Cerē; Carson Meyer, a birth doula and founder of C & The Moon skincare line, who has worked with celebrity moms like Mandy Moore; Katie Elks, director of design and product development at Brooklinen, who offered her expertise on the best fabrics for comfort and cooling; and Samantha Jacobsen, a physical therapist who works with perinatal women and athletes.
What Brand Of Pregnancy Pillow Is Best?
Queen Rose is the best pregnancy pillow overall in terms of the criteria established here by the experts interviewed. However, Leachco has long offered pregnancy support items that are worth exploring, especially if you want a J-shaped pillow rather than a U-shaped one. You can also look to non-pregnancy brands for multiple types of body pillows that might last beyond pregnancy. (For example, Meyer suggests the Yana.) Keep in mind, however, that pregnancy pillows are specifically designed to offer support in the areas where pregnant folks need it most.
What Week Should You Start Sleeping With A Pregnancy Pillow?
This varies from person to person and depends on when you start feeling uncomfortable in your normal sleep position. Some studies show sleeping on your back by the third trimester puts undue stress on the fetus. “Babies are much, much happier when you are sleeping on your side, rather than your back,” Marashi says. “You don’t give as much oxygen to the baby and to yourself on your back.” So in the second trimester, you might find yourself sleeping on your sides more than usual, necessitating a pregnancy pillow. The first trimester, though, can be a good time to start researching and thinking about your preferences.
Are Pregnancy Pillows Recommended?
None of the experts I interviewed said that you must have a pregnancy pillow, because it ultimately comes down to personal preference. However, if you aren’t using one and have back pain, it can be helpful to throw a typical pillow between your knees for support. “If you are talking about preventing back pain and comfort, it’s really the pillow that goes between your knees—so many people will get away with just that and just lay on their side. They don’t need a pillow to keep them steady,” Marashi says.
So if pregnancy pillows don’t feel right for you, a regular pillow between your knees may work. However, as a mom of soon-to-be five kids, I’ve always found a full-size pregnancy pillow helps with alleviating multiple pain points at once, without building a pillow fortress of smaller pillows in all these necessary areas.
Is A C-Shaped Or U-Shaped Pregnancy Pillow Better?
This is like asking someone if they prefer a duvet or just a comforter, a quilt or a blanket—much of it is personal preference. However, in pregnancy, there are some tangible data points to consider when you pick a pillow shape. If you are a bit taller, the C shape might end before that essential ankle support kicks in. However, it can curl up nicely and double as a back support or nursing pillow later.
Jacobsen says C-shaped pillows typically go in front of you and support your legs and hips, head and belly. U-shaped pillows, on the other hand, are the largest and most cumbersome, but provide the most head, neck, belly, pelvic and lower back support, enveloping the sleeper. Wedge pillows are the smallest and either help you avoid heartburn by propping you up, or help reduce the weight of your belly.
“J-shaped pillows are similar but don’t curl up between your legs,” says Jacobsen. The Snoogle is a combination of a C and J shape, but it does offer the curling feature.
You should also consider how much you roll side to side. If you want equal support on both sides, the U shape is more consistent, whereas you’d have to move or rearrange the C-shape each time you roll, because it is a one-sided pillow.
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