The Best Pregnancy Pillows, Tested By A Mom Of 5

Pregnancy can require you to sleep in a new position, not to mention causing more tossing and turning, reflux and other nighttime dilemmas. The one saving grace for many pregnant people’s sleep woes is an extra-large pregnancy pillow. I’ve tried nearly two dozen pillows over my five pregnancies, and recently, I rigorously tested 13 of the best pregnancy pillows in order to finally find the one. The clear winner is the Queen Rose U-Shaped Pregnancy Pillow. It has 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.

Here are all the winners, according to my testing:

I also recommend the Leachco Snoogle pregnancy pillow, because it’s exceptionally supportive and has a smaller footprint, given its J-shape versus the Queen Rose’s U-shape, which is just too big for some. 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. Finally, if you’re in the market for a pillow with many adjustment options, my pick is the BB Hug Me Pregnancy Pillow, which can also be used as a nursing 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.

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 OB-GYN Dr. Amir Marashi’s advice to have a pillow between my knees, I’ve found ones that extends down to my feet keep my hips well aligned. The U-shaped pregnancy pillow in general is the obvious winner of my “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,” says Carson Meyer, a birth doula who has worked with celebrity moms. “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.

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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 Leachco Snoogle pillow, created by a mom and nurse, has 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 five-minute increments. The Snoogle does 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, but 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.

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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.

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 gets tangled in your sheets at night. The belly cushion might be too firm for some, but if you have 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.

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As a mom of five, I’ve used this pillow for multiple pregnancies, and loved it so much I even bought one just for my camper. This is largely due to its versatility. It eliminates the need for an additional nursing pillow, because it becomes one. It can double as a kids’ pillow, or can be used as a regular body pillow by other family members.

A Unique Design

The BB Hug Me doesn’t take up as much space as traditional, oversized pregnancy pillows, yet is just long enough to help with pain and pressure on all your joints and under your pregnant belly. The key that makes it different from others is that it’s filled with microbeads. Two rubber bands, similar to the clip that keeps your loaf of bread closed, are attached to each end. Called “pebbles” by the brand, they allow you to adjust the pillow’s density. If you move them closer together, the beads are pushed together inside and the pillow becomes firmer. If they are spread further apart, the pillow gets squishier, as the beads are also further apart. So, it accommodates your preferences even as they change throughout pregnancy.

Fun Cover Options

So many pregnancy pillows I’ve tested through the years have been gray, white or pale pink. But this pillow has so many more options for pillow covers that actually add to your bed instead of making it uglier. For example, “dusty olive” looks much classier than a large white marshmallow pillow on my bed. You can also buy additional colors in creative patterns like this bright green leaf option. However, one drawback is that the cover is very tight.

Tangible Pain Relief

Pregnancy hurts: Aches and pains, stretching skin and muscles and organs getting moved right on out of the way by your new baby. This pillow is a serious relief, not to all of it, but to some of the toughest pains preventing a great night’s sleep. Your belly is supported, with the microbeads contouring around its shape at any size or stage of pregnancy, as are your knee joints, your back and wherever else you use this pillow.

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