I haven’t made many maternity purchases. The only things I’ve bought have been bras, a few clothing items and a pregnancy pillow. The pregnancy pillow was something I bought quite early on in pregnancy. I knew I was going to need support for my back and hips. I was also aware that sleeping on your back isn’t recommended after the first trimester of pregnancy. So I wanted to ensure I had something stopping me from rolling onto my back while asleep. Enter the DreamGenii Maternity Support Pillow!
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Initially, I felt quite overwhelmed by the different styles of maternity pillows available. Determined to make sure I got the best possible option for me with my hEDS, I asked the obstetrician I saw at my 12 week scan appointment for recommendations. Unfortunately all I got as a response was “A maternity pillow, I think Dunelm do them.” Not quite what I was after, but there we go.
Then, I stumbled upon the DreamGenii Maternity Support Pillow, while doing yet more pillow research. It looked like the perfect option for me!
As a result of my hEDS, I’m very particular about pillows. If the pillow under my head isn’t just right, I end up with a lot of neck pain. As a result, if ever we go to stay with people I take my own pillow with me. This was a big concern for me when looking for a maternity pillow. Everything I found (until coming across the DreamGenii) requires you to use the maternity pillow under your head, as well as to support your legs, back and bump.
The DreamGenii Maternity Support Pillow was the only maternity pillow I could find that would allow me to continue using the pillow I knew worked for me under my head. So I placed an order during week 13 of my pregnancy.
I have to admit that I was really quite disappointed after the first night with my DreamGenii Maternity Support Pillow. Until that point, I hadn’t woken up on my back. I think my brain, even while asleep, was alert to the fact that I needed to avoid rolling onto my back. But, with a pillow that was supposed to stop that, my brain relaxed. What I hadn’t realised before going to sleep that night, was that the space between the two pillows was WAY too big for my petite frame. I was able to lie on my back, with my arms by my side, in between the two pillow sections of the DreamGenii pillow.
Determined to make the DreamGenii Maternity Support Pillow work for me, I reached for some pins, a needle and some thread and started reducing the size between the two sections of the pillow. Now, I have to admit that it took me a few days to get the spacing right. I’d go to sleep and still wake up on my back. So the next day, out would come my needle and thread to make the space smaller again. After two or three attempts, I finally managed to get the spacing right and stopped waking to ind myself lying on my back.
Unfortunately, I move around a lot when I sleep. I can’t stay lying on the same side for too long. If I do, I end up with a lot of shoulder and hip pain. As a result, the stitches that I’d put in became loose during the first month or so of my second trimester. So I had to re-sew them a few times. However, as my pregnancy has progressed and my bump has grown, I’ve not needed to do any re-sewing of my DreamGenii Maternity Support Pillow.
Now, the DreamGenii Maternity Support Pillow is billed as being ‘approved by midwives.’ This was one of the things that sold me on it being the right maternity pillow for me. It also says that it “supports bump, back and knees.” Which it does. However, it doesn’t support the hips in an optimal position. I found this out at my first obstetric physio appointment, to help with my symphysis pubic dysfunction/pelvic girdle pain (SPD/PGP).
While the DreamGenii Maternity Support Pillow keeps the knees apart, it doesn’t support your feet. This puts your hips in a less than ideal position. The physio suggested just using regular pillows, strategically positioned. One in front, one behind and one between my legs (down the length of my legs). But this strategy just didn’t work for me. Because of all the moving I do during the night, I woke up with the pillows on the floor rather than on the bed where I’d positioned them!
So I tried a different approach. I used my DreamGenii Maternity Support Pillow, but added a pillow between my legs, running from my knees to my feet. Surprisingly, after just making this one change, the back and hip pain my SPD/PGP was causing had reduced! It’s amazing the difference having your joints in the right position can make.
Now, it’s probably that my body is more sensitive to these small changes than most peoples, on account of my hEDS. But for those who are experiencing SPD/PGP symptoms, it’s worth making sure your hips are in their optimal position.
Unfortunately, I’ve had an issue with combining the DreamGenii Maternity Support Pillow with a standard pillow between my legs. I’ve found that, which ever foot is underneath the standard pillow, ends up at a very odd angle from the weight of the pillow and my other leg. Even though I position my legs one in front of the other. This has lead to some ankle pain, but not as bad as the hip and back pain I was experiencing before adding the standard pillow into the mix. Again, this is going to be more problematic for me because of my hEDS. People without hyper mobile joints may not experience this problem and if they do, it won’t be as pronounced.
The DreamGenii Maternity Support Pillow is designed to have the small pillow section support your back, with the longer curved section in front, supporting your bump. I started out this way, but found turning myself and the pillow during the night rather difficult. To the point where I ended up too awake to easily get back to sleep. Now, I start off sleeping with the curved section of the pillow supporting my bump, but don’t move the pillow when I turn.
I’ve actually found the DreamGenii Maternity Support Pillow quite comfortable, used the wrong way round. The small back support pillow works well to support my bump. Plus, the long curved pillow section is great for supporting my back and hips, particularly when pulled right up under my bottom.
It looks like the pillows are overlapping in the above photo – they aren’t. The pillowcase is just a bit big for the pillow.
The DreamGenii Maternity Support Pillow is designed to be used as a maternity pillow, but also a breast feeding pillow. It looks ok for breast feeding from the images I’ve found online. But, still being pregnant, I have no personal experiences to share of this. I don’t yet know what I’ll be doing in terms of breast or bottle feeding for Baby Velcro. This is something that we won’t know until she’s here and can accurately assess whether I need to start medication straight away for my PoTS or not. If I do use the DreamGenii Maternity Support Pillow for breast feeding, I’ll probably write a follow up post for you, to let you know if it’s any good.
The DreamGenii Maternity Support Pillow can be purchased from amazon.co.uk
Despite the couple of difficulties I’ve had with the DreamGenii Maternity Support Pillow, I still think it was the best pregnancy pillow for me.
Have you tried the DreamGenii Maternity Support Pillow? How did you find it?
What did you look for in a maternity pillow?
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