Women often experience discomfort and back pain during pregnancy. This happens due to the expanding belly and constant weight gain. Pregnant women are increasingly using pregnancy pillows as a way to cope with discomfort and back pain.
Let’s see how to use pregnancy pillows:
- Lie down in your normal sleep position, hold a pregnancy pillow and see how it supports your body. If you can’t find a comfortable position, try another standard sleeping position.
- If you prefer to sleep on your back, put the pregnancy pillow under your body. You can relieve the pressure on your abdominal nerves and uterus by turning slightly on one side.
- If you fancy sleeping on your side, place the pillow in-between your knees and hug it with your arms. This will help you keep your spine aligned and will prevent you from stressing your back.
- If you’re someone who sleeps on their stomach, you should throw your arms and a leg on top of the pillow. This allows you to make enough room for your belly while you continue to sleep in your favorite position.
- It is recommended that you try new positions. For someone who is used to sleeping on the stomach or back, you will probably have some difficulties in adjusting to the lump on your stomach, but you will slowly get used to it. In the early weeks and months of pregnancy, try falling asleep on your sides. This will help you in adjusting. Your body will take some time in getting used to this new adjustment, so you should start using it more often.
- Remember that a good pregnancy pillow can be used again post pregnancy for cradling your new born baby and nursing him.
There is a wide variety of pregnancy pillows to choose from:
- The simple pregnancy pillow has two pillows attached lengthwise together. To make sure that the woman is not lying flat on her back, the pillow should be placed under one side of the back.
- Full-length pregnancy pillows differ in length- some are five feet long and can go up to six feet in length. You can easily position them around the front and back of your body to reduce back pain.
- Wedge pillows can easily be placed under a pregnant woman’s stomach or her back while she’s lying on her side. This style of pregnancy pillows alleviates back pains as they take the pressure off the woman’s back.
- Bean-shaped pillows are the ones that are attached on each side by an adjustable strap. One bean pillow can be placed on the pregnant lady’s stomach whereas the other can be placed anywhere on her back. The adjustable straps help to hold the pillows in place.