The 3 Best Pregnancy Pillows

Our Picks of Pregnancy Pillows

Best Overall Pregnancy Pillow

INSEN C Shape

Retained heat:No | Shape:C

Measurements	58"L x 28"W 7.8"H
Shape	C-shape
Cover Materials	Jersey cover
Pillow Materials	100% silk fiber fill
Removable Cover	Yes

The INSEN C shape pregnancy pillow is our ultimate favorite if you want an excellent pillow that provides thick padding, conforms to your body, while still offering firm support where you need it. It has a soft jersey cover that wicks moisture and doesn't create or hold heat, keeping hormone-fueled moms cooler than some of the other pillows we tested. One reviewer noted, “In my last trimester, every night I get sweaty, but the INSEN maintained an even cool temp all night long!” We like that it can fold, wrap, and stack for sitting upright. This pillow is long, running to the toe on our side-sleeping 5'7 tester. She states, “It's rare to find a pillow long enough for my legs, but this one was just right.” Depending on where you need support, you can use it with the ends of the C in the front or behind, making it a versatile product for pregnancy and beyond.

This pillow doesn't have much back support. Our tester noted, “It is hard to get belly and back support at the same time, and I had to regularly shift around depending on what body part was aching the most.” If you prefer dual support, the MomCozy pillow is a U-shaped pillow that can offer simultaneous support front-and-back without sacrificing any of the expected comfort. However, it does add the element of retaining heat, due to its velvet cover. The INSEN is a tester favorite, with some users even swapping back to it mid-sleep when testing the competition. It is comfortable, stays relatively cool, and has a soft, washable cover.

Best on a Budget Maternity Pillow

Chilling Home

Retained heat:Yes | Shape:U

Measurements	57"L x 28"W x 9.5"H
Shape	U-shape
Cover Materials	Velvet cover
Pillow Materials	100% Polyester fiber fill
Removable Cover	Yes

The Chilling Home is a unique U that is almost an O shape and is our choice for moms-to-be who want a budget-friendly pillow. This pillow features one leg that curves around the bottom to meet the other leg. This means you can flip the pillow and sleep with your head on the bottom of the O, which could provide all-around support without creating the trapped feeling some users dislike about the standard U shape. Our tester said, “I love this pillow and didn't feel trapped like I did in the traditional U-shaped pillows.” This pillow has the thickest padding in our review. It offers firm support and bounces back after use. You can position this pillow to create support for sitting, snuggling, reading, or nursing, which means you might be using it well after pregnancy.

This pillow has a soft, velvety cover that retains heat in our tests, making it hotter than some competitors. Our tester explained, “I get hot during the night, and the pillow gets wet with sweat; I just wish it was cooling because I'm already uncomfortable, and this made it worse.” It is also significantly larger than most pillows we tested. If your space is limited by bed size or partner, then size is something to consider, as well. The affordable INSEN pillow is a smaller C-shaped, moisture-wicking pillow, with a jersey cover. It can help the user avoid feeling sweaty and trapped. Overall, we love the fact that you get so much bang for your buck with the Chilling Home.

Best Luxury Pillow

bbhugme Adjustable

Retained heat:No | Shape:I

Measurements	57.09L x 7.87"W x 7.87"H
Shape	I-shape
Cover Materials	95% Cotton + 5% Spandex
Pillow Materials	100% Microbead fill
Removable Cover	Yes

The bbhugme Adjustable pillow is an I-shaped, high-quality pillow that wowed us with its overall luxury. While it is the most expensive pillow we tested, it definitely delivers in spades. The cooling, breathable cotton cover is certified non-toxic. The inner pillow is comprised of microbeads that have anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties and conform to your body. The ends are secured by BPA-free silicone “pebbles” or toggles that are used for adjusting the pillow's firmness. One tester commented, “Sleeping with the bbhugme made me feel like I was being embraced by a soft, cool cloud that supported my body exactly where I needed it. I also like that it's not heavy and was easy for me to move it around in bed, without taking up a lot of space.” Additional colored covers and pebbles are available for purchase.

The bbhugme Adjustable isn't perfect; one tester remarked that, “I disliked the fact that there is extra material at both ends that just flops around when you move it and the “pebbles” felt unnecessarily large.” If you feel this would be an issue, we recommend the INSEN C-shape pillow, which also features a smooth, soft cover and its stuffing level is adjustable. If cost is not a determining factor in choosing a pregnancy pillow and you are looking for a form-cradling, supportive pillow with exceptional performance, we definitely think the bbhugme is the stand-alone choice.

Do Not Recommend: Overpowering Smell

Coop Home Goods Original

Retained heat:Yes | Shape:I

We had high hopes for the Coop Home Goods Original pillow before we received it, because it boasts super supportive cross-cut memory foam, the cover and the pillow are machine washable, and it is a versatile 60", making it the longest pillow we tested. The Coop was also at a higher cost than the other pillows, indicating a high quality awaited us. We enthusiastically tore open the package, imagining that this I-shaped pillow would be one of our favorites. Unfortunately, we were greeted with an overwhelming, offensive odor that immediately sent us double-checking the packaging, because it is advertised as CertiPUR-US and GREENGUARD Gold certified. While the insert confirmed this, it still smelled very strong to multiple testers. Pregnancy is a time of heightened sensitivity to smells, and some strong smells can induce nausea or headaches in some women. As one tester remarked, “When I opened this pillow, the smell that emanated from it was horrible. It gave me a headache within 15 minutes.” The packaging discloses that memory foam smells and recommends that users place the pillow in the dryer on low for a few hours, with a dryer sheet, to mitigate this, but this had no impact on our test pillow. We also tried washing the cover a few times, but this also did not decrease the smell. We placed the pillow in a separate room to off-gas, and when we opened the door in the morning, the smell was overpowering. Over the course of the next two weeks, the Coop Home Goods Original remained so unbearably stinky that we could smell it across a room. Because of this, despite scoring highly in many of the other metrics we tested, we cannot recommend this pregnancy pillow.

How We Tested

We considered over 20 potential contenders before choosing the top choices for hands-on testing. In this review, we used each pillow, comparing it side-by-side with the others to see the differences, which options are better than the rest, and why. We also used feedback from pregnant testers on their views and experiences using the top-ranked pillows. We considered metrics like comfort, ease of cleaning, versatility, and more to determine winners. With arduous months spent lounging on comfy pregnancy pillows under our belts, we used the information and feedback from multiple testers to determine our winners and rankings.

Why Trust GearLab

We specialize in top-ranked baby gear and test everything related to pregnancy, babyhood, and beyond. This pillow review is led by Review Editor, Averi Hughes. Averi has three kids and years of experience using and evaluating products for babies. Also contributing to this review is Senior Review Editor, Wendy Schmitz, who has been with BabyGearLab since 2014. She rounds out our review process with her experience as a mother of two and many years of in-depth baby gear experience.

Analysis and Test Results

We assessed each pillow for comfort and versatility to help moms-to-be find a comfortable position, whether sleeping, snuggling, reading, or breastfeeding.

What's the Best Value?

The Chilling Home is our favorite inexpensive option. With a reasonable price point and better versatility thanks to the modified U design, the Chilling Home is cheap enough to be used through pregnancy and for nursing without worrying about it being destroyed. The MomCozy is very similar and, depending on sales, could be cheaper. Even if you pay full price, we like its zipper over the Chilling Home, and it could make it a better value if you plan to wash it frequently.

Pillow Comfort

Essential pregnancy pillow factors for comfort are fabric softness, smell (off-gassing), stuffing access, heat retention, and its ability to provide supportiveness where needed, at first, and later during prolonged use.

Supportiveness

Pregnancy pillows, sometimes referred to as “maternity pillows,” should be thick enough to support your body without being too thick and causing discomfort. A too-thin pillow is also a problem, as it can't provide the support that you'll desire towards the end of your pregnancy. The most common areas needing help are the lower back and the growing baby belly.

The Chilling Home pillow has the best thickness in the bunch, with support that feels like heaven on your back while still supporting the head in alignment with your shoulder for side sleeping. We like that the side can tuck under your belly or push out, if you don't need the boost. This option also includes one longer leg that curves around for ankle support. The MomCozy also has this amazing feature, but it isn't as thick as the Chilling Home.

The INSEN is a C-shaped pillow that provides Goldilocks level thickness for neck alignment (for most moms) and supports the natural spacing between legs, to keep knees and ankles from discomfort. As your ligaments relax in preparation for pregnancy, support between your legs can be a must-have necessity for comfort and alignment.

Those lacking helpful support are the Frida Mom Adjustable and the Boppy Total Body. The Frida Mom Adjustable is an I-shaped pillow with disappointing support. While it does conform to your body, it compresses almost flat, similar to an old, squashed bean bag. The Frida Mom has two separate pillows under the cover, allowing the pillow to be twisted more easily than the other competitors. The Boppy Total Body is the smallest pillow in the group, making it easier to stow when not in use or to take in the car. However, it fails to deliver needed support with its strange design, which features an inconsistent level of stuffing that results in overstuffed ends and a flat middle, which offers little to no belly support compared to the competition.

Stuffing Adjustability

Individual perceptions of the perfect thickness and the right support for restful sleep vary, so we considered the ability to access the stuffing to add or subtract filling to personalize your experience. The INSEN beat out all the competitors, with its long, centrally located zipper, along the back of the jersey-covered pillow, which allowed for easy addition or removal of the 100% silk fiber fill. The manufacturer also offers the option to order more, if it compresses over time or isn't thick enough. All of the pillows that we tested offered access to the stuffing, with the exception of the Frida Mom Adjustable and the Boppy Total Body.

Heat Retention

The pillow cover also influences comfort, depending on whether it retains heat, and increases middle-of-the-night sweating. No matter what time of year you are pregnant, you will likely run hot. With the expected increase in blood flow, weight gain, and hormones, many pregnant women feel hot most of the time: you are a human incubator, after all.

While we understand the draw of a velvety soft cover for comfort against your sensitive skin, they retain heat and create an environment where sweat thrives. Sweaty velvet isn't a good thing, trust us. When it came to wicking away moisture, we loved the INSEN with its soft, silky smooth, breathable jersey cover. Another stand-out contender is the bbhugme, which blew us away with its soft cotton cover, which kept testers cool and comfy all night. In contrast, the velvet material on the MomCozy and Chilling Home retained the most heat.

Softness

Cover softness is an essential factor when choosing a pillow. The pillows with velvet covers tend to be the softest but retain the most heat. The Chilling Home was a top scorer in our tests and features a super soft, velvet cover. However, when it came to wicking moisture away and simultaneously being soft and silky, the INSEN and the bbhugme Adjustable excelled. In contrast, the Boppy Total Body featured the most disliked cover in our tests. This cover feels like a very low thread count cotton that is rough and irritating. In our opinion, it wasn't skin-friendly compared to the competition and even seemed to catch on clothing instead of allowing it to slide across the pillow surface.

Smell

While smell can be a subjective experience, there are some products in this review that smell more than others, and it deserves discussion because our experience was so extreme. Pregnancy tends to be a time of heightened sensitivity to smells for most women, or as one reviewer noted, “I feel like my perception of smells is amplified a thousand times right now, enough so that it's almost like a super power that I feel cursed with. Negative smells are a no-go for me during this time.” Since this feeling seemed to be the rule more than the exception, we assessed each pillow for smell.

The majority of pillows had no perceivable smell. The noted exceptions were the Coop Home Goods and Frida Mom Adjustable. The Coop Home Goods came out of the packaging with an overwhelmingly offensive smell. In fact, the packaging insert includes the suggestion that new owners of the pillow put it through a cycle or two in the dryer on low, with a dryer sheet to help mitigate and lessen the smell. We tried this and even after one week, the scent permeated the room to an incredible degree. This is a common issue with memory foam, which is the core component of this pillow. Similarly, the Frida Mom Adjustable also had a noticeable smell, but to a lesser degree.

Overall Comfort

Our favorite pillow for comfort is the INSEN, with its versatile C-shape that supports right where you need it and keeps you cool with a soft cover. We loved that the thickness could be modified by adding more stuffing or removing some. In contrast, the Boppy Total Body failed to impress due to its scratchy cover and odd shape with uneven stuffing that was too full at the ends and almost non-existent in the center.

Versatility

In our experience, no pillow can “do it all,” but it is helpful if it can meet multiple needs. It should provide support to help you sleep better or longer, but it would be nice if it also provided support while watching TV or nursing after pregnancy.

A maternity pillow's shape and the ability to move or alter the shape are potential considerations, as your needs can and will vary throughout your pregnancy and afterward. If a pillow is immovable or lacks versatility, it might work temporarily but could fail in the long run. Alternatively, if it is too versatile, it may not do any one thing very well, like many things that try to do everything.

U-Shape

The U-shaped pillows are the least adaptable, and while they offer full support simultaneously for front and back, they can feel claustrophobic depending on your size or preferred sleep position. No matter how hard you try, you won't be able to kick out a leg of the U to give yourself more space, and if you sleep with your head on the U bend, you could wake up with trapped shoulders. However, these pillows can easily be bent, pulling the legs up and folding them for sitting support in bed.

You can also wrap a leg over your lap to support a nursing little one or a laptop. In our tests, the Chilling Home is one of the most versatile U-shaped options. As a unique broken O or modified U shape, this pillow can be used with your head on either end to limit the trapped feeling, and you can bend the legs for back or under-the-knee support or across-the-lap nursing support.

I-Shape

The I-shape would appear incredibly versatile, but it failed to meet expectations. While it can be bent into any shape, it struggles to cover both the front and back of the sleeper, and it doesn't hold its shape, shifting once you fall asleep and move. It does take up the least amount of space in bed, so if space is at a premium and a concern, the I-shape's smaller footprint may be the way to go. Our favorite I-shape is the bbhugme Adjustable.

C-Shape

The C-shape offers many of the same benefits as a U and I, but it is not as all-encompassing as the U, offering one side that does not wrap all the way around. Due to its reduced overall size compared to the U, it can be configured into several shapes that the U shape cannot and the I struggles to maintain.

Overall Versatility

Overall, we preferred the C-shape as it is far less confining during sleep. It can be wrapped between your legs to support your back or folded in half to offer sitting support. It can also be curled around your waist while sitting to offer breastfeeding moms extra baby support. The INSEN pillow is our favorite C-shaped pillow as it provides slightly thicker padding and supports exactly where it's most needed.

Ease of Cleaning

Pillows can become contaminated with sweat, saliva, food, and other bodily fluids during regular use, so you'll want a pillow that is easy to clean. For ease of cleaning, we consider things like whether the cover is removable (how hard this is), if it can be machine washed and dried, and if the pillow itself is washable.

The highest scoring option in this metric is the Boppy Total Body. The cover was challenging to get on and off, but the entire pillow and the cover can be machine-washed and dried. But the cover is so scratchy, this isn't really a selling point. In contrast, the Pharmedoc U Shape scored the lowest for ease of cleaning, due to no washing instructions online or on a tag/paperwork with the pillow. The cover was difficult to get back on due to the zipper location, and the pillow cannot be washed and is spot clean only. If washability is important to you, the Pharmedoc is a fail.

How to Pick the Best Pregnancy Pillow

Finding comfort when pregnant or even postpartum can be the difference between fitful and peaceful rest. Because quality sleep is important, most prefer to bolster their burgeoning parts with pillows.

Choose a Shape

While there is some variety in pillow shapes, most fall into one of three basic configurations: C, I, and U-shaped pillows. In our experience, a U-shaped pillow is the least versatile but can offer better simultaneous support for your back and belly. The I-shape has some shape flexibility but obvious limitations in the all-around coverage arena. The C-shape is less claustrophobic and perhaps the best choice for those who might find the U-shape confining or the I too basic. It has some more versatility in how it can bend and shift, and could be good for propping up and sitting moms or for nursing.

Pick a Size

The size of the pillow will depend on your height and bed size. A smaller bed might make a U-shape pillow more challenging, while a taller person might like the longer legs we found in the U or I shapes. Each shape comes in slightly different sizes, and you might need to trial and error, which is best if you share your bed with a partner. Taller tests preferred the longer pillow sides on the U or I-shaped options, while heavily pregnant users often liked the adjustability of the smaller pillows. However, this is a personal preference choice and could be influenced by your size and whatever body part is giving you the most trouble.

Conclusion

The final two trimesters of pregnancy (possibly longer) often result in new discomfort and pain as your body changes and your ligaments begin to stretch in preparation for childbirth. These shifts in body size and hormones can lead to new and unique needs that require support and assistance to ensure you get the quality sleep and relaxation you and your baby need. Finding an excellent pregnancy pillow can be an essential piece of the puzzle to better comfort and continued support for any stage of pregnancy and beyond. We believe our testing and details can help you find the right pregnancy pillow for your needs and wallet.