Is there anything more uncomfortable than trying to sleep while you’re pregnant? Eventually your belly becomes too big to sleep on it, and you hit a point where it’s advised you don’t sleep on your back. This leaves you flip-flopping from side to side, hoping your hips don’t ache too badly in the morning.
Desperate for comfortable sleep at five months pregnant, I caved and bought a full-body pregnancy pillow. I had already MacGyvered four pillows around my body so I could toss and turn with ease. Hoping to satisfy my cranky hips, I had even attempted buying a standard body pillow but found the straight, rectangular shape difficult to maneuver around my belly and still provide support for my hips and arms. Nothing was working.
I researched my options, asking within online mom groups and at prenatal yoga classes. I was looking for something that I could straddle with my legs and could tuck underneath my belly for more support. The prices were steeper than I had anticipated (ranging from $10 to $70), so I decided on the Nuvu Baby C-shaped pregnancy pillow. It is a mid-priced option (currently $31.99 on Amazon) and received average reviews on Amazon. By the time I bought it, I was already more than halfway through my pregnancy and didn’t want to spend too much money on something I only saw myself using for a few more months.
The pillow was advertised as providing an extra-soft support cushion for pregnancy and back pain relief. It also has features meant to maximize comfort, like a thinner part of the pillow for under the belly. But when the pillow came, I was skeptical. The pillow I received was the same shape as the one online, but it did not look like the one in the picture (based on the reviews, I could tell I was not the only one with this experience). It was extremely flat. I was hoping it would fluff out more over time since it was sent in a vacuum-sealed package, but mine did not. The pillows I had been using between my legs were much thicker, and I woke up with sore hips when using the Nuvu Baby C-shaped pregnancy pillow. I ended up folding up the “tail” end of the pillow so I could double-up the thickness between my knees at night. Although this worked much better, it took the ease out of rolling over in the middle of the night.
The pillow also does not seem to be one-size-fits-all. At 5’3” I never quite figured out how to get my belly, head, and legs lined up with the creases and grooves of the pillow. My head would land at a thinner part, and I still required the support of a second pillow underneath my head. Because I went with the C-shape instead of the U-shape, I had to move the pillow with me. Underneath the blankets, this became very cumbersome, especially the larger I got.
Overall, I would recommend dishing out a little bit more money for a thicker pillow or finding a pillow system that works for you. However, if you’re on a budget, you can still make this pillow work. Although I ended up ditching the pillow and using a Boppy pillow between my legs, I found I liked the support of the Nuvu Baby underneath my belly. I was a fetal-position sleeper before pregnancy, so I was mostly comfortable sleeping on my sides once I figured out a system for keeping my hips happy, but if you’re used to sleeping on your stomach or back, the Nuvu Baby pillow could provide relief for your neck and shoulders, as well as your belly and hips, during your side-sleeping months. It provides more overall support and comfort than a regular body pillow; it just didn’t provide enough cushion to keep my knees elevated.
I am 23 weeks into my second pregnancy and will not be using my Nuvu Baby C-shaped pregnancy pillow or purchasing another pregnancy pillow this time around.