BellaMoon Full Moon review

At a glance

• Seven functions – it can be used as a pregnancy pillow, infant feeding pillow, nighttime lateral feeding pod, breastfeeding day bed, breastfeeding privacy cover, baby lounger and tummy-time pillow

• Provides comfort and rest for pregnant and breastfeeding mums

• Provides support for neck, shoulders, back, hips and legs

• Different configurations for targeted support when used as a maternity pillow

• Helps to establish and extend breastfeeding in all feeding positions – the BellaMoon was primarily designed to support lateral breastfeeding (ie breastfeeding on your side) day or night.

Pros

• Great variety of uses

• Machine washable

• Soft and comfortable

• Can really target specific aches and pains

• Extended use

Cons

• Expensive

• Only worth the money if you’re breastfeeding – if you can’t or don’t want to, then this may not be the pillow for you

What are the specs?

• C-shaped maternity pillow

• 100% cotton cover

• Filling: polyester hollowfibre

• Dimensions: 200 × 120 × 30cm full size

• Weight: 1.39kg

• RRP: £169

How comfortable and safe is the BellaMoon Full Moon?

The BellaMoon is definitely an investment, but it makes for a really supportive and comfy maternity pillow. It’s just right when it comes to firmness and it’s easy to chop and change the configurations to target specific aches and pains during pregnancy.

To use as a full-size pillow, you zip the three sections together. The head and foot ends can be unzipped and used wherever you need them, so it can be a full body pillow or adapted to suit your needs.

The cover is soft and the different configurations meant that our tester, Laura, could make the pillow smaller when she needed, especially if she was feeling particularly hot or uncomfortable at night. She only tested this pillow during pregnancy, not for nursing, but found that there were a multitude of options here for a really comfortable night's sleep.

There's no doubt about it though – the Full Moon is a big pillow. When full size, the pillow doesn’t leave much room in bed for a partner, which is definitely something to bear in mind – although it might be worth sleeping alone for a good night’s sleep anyway!

At full size it’s only really suitable to use as a maternity pillow when you're in bed or on the sofa, but it is really comfy to cuddle up to for a night in front of the TV.

When it comes to safety, there are no tags, labels, or annoying seams to contend with as all the parts with zips have covers, and there's nothing to irritate the skin at all.

How easy is it to use and clean?

When first using the pillow, there are clear and helpful instructions as well as BellaMoon's detailed and exhaustive website. Click on the ‘how to use’ section and then open the ‘user guide and safety’ information that gives detailed instructions on all the configurations.

The website might feel a little overwhelming at first sight, but it’s actually very easy to adapt the pillow to each of these uses.

If using simply as a maternity pillow, then the website shows you clearly how to position the pillow for comfort and support, and to enable a safe-sleeping position. There’s a very basic video too.

If you’re using the BellaMoon as a whole-body pillow, you lay your head at the top of the ‘C’, have the length of the ‘C’ around your tummy and between your legs, and then finally you can rest your feet on the bottom curve.

While Laura used the Full Moon in her third trimester, she felt that it would've been handy in the earlier stages of pregnancy too.

The pillow comes in one design but it’s very neutral – light grey with white spots – so not a problem at all to have it on show around the house. Unfortunately you can’t purchase spare covers, but the pillow is machine-washable and doesn’t take long to dry.

Laura used non-biological washing powder and found that marks from spilled tea and milk (and even a chocolate stain) came out in the first wash. After washing, there was also no loss of colour or bobbling of the fabric – the pillow felt completely fresh and clean.

What about day-to-day?

Laura used the BellaMoon Full Moon mainly when on the sofa and when in bed. She found it too big to use in the car and fairly difficult to transport when fully assembled, not because it was heavy (it weighs just over a kilogram) but because it was a bit unwieldy. It was also tricky to store, so she left it on the bed when not in use.

With that said, it would be easy to unzip one or two of the sections to make it smaller if you needed to take it with you for overnight stays or on long car journeys.

Overall, Laura found the Full Moon very comfortable to use on the sofa and felt it gave lots of support, especially because it was always easy to manoeuvre into the right position.

While it did take up a lot of room in bed, it did help to alleviate the aches and pains of late pregnancy and she had a really supported and restful night’s sleep.

If you have the luxury of a bed to yourself, then this pillow really comes into its own. It didn't feel overwhelming or difficult to move the pillow into the ideal position and Laura didn't overheat or feel uncomfortable when using it as she did with both the Love2Sleep U-Shaped Pregnancy Body Pillow and the Summer Infant Ultimate Comfort Body Pillow.

Does it offer good value for money?

At a whopping £169, it would be hard to justify the expense of this pillow if you aren't going to breastfeed. It gives firm support during pregnancy, but that alone doesn’t justify the price.

However, if you’re going to breastfeed, then this pillow is a really good purchase. It supports all breastfeeding positions, and is particularly great for those mums who want to breastfeed on their side. The soft central wedge provides support and allows your baby to be breastfeed safely and easily without rolling into you.

While feeding, the pillow is designed to wrap around your back, neck, legs and hips to create a sort of cocoon.

The BellaMoon Full Moon has so many uses and will last for many months – but you’d have to be really sure you’d use it in the majority of its configurations before spending all that money.

Final verdict?

Lovely in quality, comfortable and extremely supportive, the BellaMoon provides a soft and cosy environment in which to bond with your baby.

It's really handy if you're planning to breastfeed and, as a maternity pillow, it’ll really help you get a good night’s sleep, so you can't get much better than that really, can you?

About Mumsnet Reviews

All Mumsnet product reviews are written by real parents after weeks of research and testing – this includes recommendations from the Mumsnet Talk boards. We work hard to provide honest and independent advice you can trust. Sometimes, we earn revenue through affiliate (click-to-buy) links in our articles. However, we never allow this to influence our coverage.

All prices correct at time of publication