Silentnight Body Support Pillow reviewed

The Silentnight Body Support Pillow is a straight, 148cm hollowfibre pillow that you hug along the length of your body, and it comes with its own soft-touch pillowcase. Silentnight sells it for £27 and suggests it for pregnancy, nursing, back and hip support, or simply propping yourself up in bed. Compared with the U-shaped and C-shaped maternity pillows that dominate this category, it is simpler and much cheaper.

Size and build

Silentnight gives the dimensions as 148 x 49.5cm. Argos, which sells the same pillow, lists 147 x 48cm and 1.6kg, so expect roughly the height of a teenager and the width of a standard pillow. The filling is squishy hollowfibre in a quilted microfibre casing. Both the pillow and the included case are machine washable at 40°C, and Argos adds that tumble drying is allowed, useful for something this bulky. Silentnight’s Body Support Pillow page lists a 2-year manufacturer’s guarantee.

Using it in pregnancy

The NHS says that going to sleep on your back after 28 weeks of pregnancy can increase the risk of stillbirth, and that the safest position to fall asleep in is on your side, left or right (NHS, reducing the risk of stillbirth). A body pillow makes that position easier to hold. You hug the top end, rest your bump against the middle and grip the lower end between your knees, which keeps your hips level.

What a straight pillow cannot do is stop you rolling backwards. U-shaped pillows wrap behind you as well. If that matters to you, wedge a second ordinary pillow behind your back or choose a U-shape.

Beyond pregnancy

The same position helps side sleepers with lower back or hip pain who find their top knee drops forward in the night. Silentnight also suggests it as a nursing support and a backrest for reading. We rate the feel medium, 4 out of 10. It is soft enough to mould around a bump and firm enough to keep the knees apart, at least until the fibre settles after months of nightly use.

Before you buy

A 148cm pillow takes a large share of a 135cm UK double once your partner is in it, so measure up if you share. There is no trial. Silentnight refunds bedding within 14 days only if it is unopened, which rules out testing it for a few nights first.