Pregnancy puts great strain and stress on a woman's body, and one of these stresses is insomnia caused by being unable to get comfortable while lying down in bed. Prenancy insomnia can cause a lot of anxiety in the mother-to-be especially as she is conscious of the need to get enough sleep in order to nurture the baby growing in her womb.
Because pregnant women can't take medication for their insominia, the best non-medical aid to getting a good night's sleep is a maternity pillow. These are full length pillows that are designed to support your body as you sleep, taking pressure off your back, and helping to keep your feet elevated to prevent swelling. They are sometimes known as body pillows, pregnancy pillows and back and belly pillows.
Because of the size of body pillows, they don't fall off the bed or move around while you sleep. They are pretty substantial and are designed to curve round your body with the end piece secured in between your legs (which opens up the hip bones and relieves pressure on the back).
There are a large variety of maternity pillows on the market to suit every wallet. The simplest type of pillow is the pregnancy wedge pillow, which cost as little as $15.99. These are wedge shaped and are slipped under your belly when you sleep on your side, taking the weight of the baby bump and thus relieving pressure on your back. The most popular type of body pillows for pregnant women is the big “C” shaped pillows, which can be curved around your back or around your front. Finally there are the giant “U” shaped pillows which form a sort of nest around you, curving around both your back and your front. Because they are so large, they are the most expensive, - on the other hand they are also the most comfortable as they provide total support. Some body pillows are made of memory foam, which moulds itself to your shape – this provides extra comfort because the pillow works with you.
Pregnant mothers who use a body pillow to help them sleep not only find themselves getting some much needed rest, but symptoms such as back-ache is reduced. If you sleep with your feet elevated by the body pillow, you can also reduce swelling in the feet. Once the baby is born, the pillows can be used as nursing support pillows, as the curve around both you and the baby. When the baby becomes a toddler, you can use the body pillow to make a soft safe play-pen for them.
The earlier you get a body pillow, the better your pregnancy will run, as you will have at least eliminated the stress caused from lack of sleep.
