A little while back I enquired about a Caesarean Belt from Theraline as I knew there was a strong likelihood that I may have another Caesarean and wanted to be prepared this time round. However seeing as I was still a little far away from giving birth at the time I was kindly offered the Theraline Original Maternity and Nursing Pillow to try out instead, during my pregnancy and beyond.
I was pleasantly surprised when the pillow arrived as the pattern on the fabric is really tasteful. I expected it to be covered in a more gaudy bright fabric, like some of the ones I have seen, so without me choosing it myself the design couldn’t have been nicer (and subtle). The pillow is filled with millions of micro beads, that are super light and conform to the shape of your body. When I received the pillow it was primarily used as an aid for sitting on the sofa comfortably, rather than becoming moulded and stuck in the seat as I had done so many times before, feeling like I needed a hoist to extract me from the sofa. I had just got to the stage where getting in a comfortable position for more than five minutes was becoming slightly challenging.
The pillow has really come into it’s own in the last couple of weeks and I couldn’t bear going to bed without it. I had been putting a regular pillow between my legs to offer support when I lie on my side but this soon became uncomfortable too. In my first pregnancy I longed for a pillow to help me sleep and had seen several on the market that were designed to wrap around you whilst lying in bed. I was mainly put off by the price tag to be honest and I never got round to buying one, what with all the other purchases that you need to make with a newborn. I do remember noting that next time round I would have to treat myself and I was thrilled to be offered one to review before I started to look into one.
Having initially thought the pillow was a little firm to sleep with, I didn’t actually use it until as I said, a couple of weeks ago where I thought I would give it another whirl. The pillow is shaped in a V shape but I have also found that it stretches out lengthways meaning that it is very pliable to use. I was initially using one half of the pillow as support between my legs when lying in bed but I soon found out that it offers superb back support at the same time. I now lie in bed with the pillow fashioned between my legs like a horseshoe, so that my knees are either side of the pillow and my back has the pillow wedged behind me. The description of the pillow on Theraline’s website states that the pillow remains firmly in place and I am pleased to say that it does, perfectly wedged and provides instant back relief, bliss. The only gripe that I have is that I end up fighting to get out of the pillows vice like grip when I need to visit the toilet, often. I won’t blame the pillow for this however, I will blame my baby, or most probably tea consumption too late in the day. You can also forget about snuggling up to your husband, you may as well sleep with a partition down the middle but in these late stages of pregnancy sleep is the clear winner here.
Not only has the pillow been of great support to me whilst I sleep but it is going to continue to offer support once my baby is here. I had an incredibly naff feeding pillow with Beastie, that was cheap and cheerful. It didn’t really wrap round me well enough or offer the firm support that you really need when resting your baby on it. I am pleased that I will be able to continue reaping the benefits with this pillow seeing as there is more than enough pillow to drape around you. I know that it is also going to stay put with my baby snuggled on top of it. Position is so incredibly important when you are feeding your baby and in the first few weeks of breastfeeding Beastie I struggled to find a comfortable posture for this. So with experience on my side and better equipment to hand, hopefully I should master it much quicker this time.
The Maternity and Nursing Pillow retails at £44.95 and there are a large choice of patterns to choose from on the Theraline Online Store. You can also purchase it at other great retailers such as John Lewis and Amazon. They also have some other pretty useful products on there including the Caesarean belt, Mamma Pads and Baby pillows, all are definitely worth a look at as after all anything that makes our lives a little easier is worth the investment.
Nb. I was kindly sent this fabulous pillow in return for a review but all opinions expressed are entirely my own.
Aaahhh that looks lovely I had a lovely pillow to sleep with but need to dig it out of box in garage hoping its ok. If not i know where to get a new one from. Looks great for feeding and stuff afterwards too x