Pregnancy gifts she'll actually use, by trimester and budget
What a pregnant wife, friend or colleague will actually use, by trimester and by budget, with ours on merit and plenty that isn't a thing at all.
You've got a pregnant wife, sister, friend or colleague, an occasion coming up, and a search history full of candles, mugs that say Mama and bump-shaped bath bombs. She'll be pleased with any of them. The ones she'll still be using in a month are a shorter list.
What she'll use depends on which week she's at, so this list goes by trimester first and budget second, and it includes the things that aren't things, because a month of help around the house beats most of what comes in a box.
Where one of ours fits, I've said so and given the price. Where it doesn't, I've said that too.
Jump to: by trimester · by budget · for a partner or friend to give · questions
Quick answer: Find out how many weeks she is, then buy for that. First trimester: food she can face and help around the house. Second: the ball, and the belt if her back's complaining. Third: the pillow, compression socks and the hospital bag. After the birth: sleep bras, meals sorted, a gift card. Budget table below, from £15 to club together.
Key facts
- A birthing ball goes by height: 65cm up to about 5ft 8, 75cm from 5ft 10, either in between. Ours is £29 to £35 with a 100-page pregnancy book in the box.
- Compression socks go by shoe size, 2 to 5 or 6 to 9, standard or wide calf, £15.
- E-gift cards run from £25 to £150 and go by email, which gets round the sizing problem.
Pregnancy gifts by trimester
Ask how many weeks she is, or count back from the due date: 1 to 12 is the first trimester, 13 to 27 the second, 28 onwards the third. Then buy for the trimester she's about to be in: the ball at 16 weeks, the pillow around 24, the bag at 30.
| Trimester | What she's dealing with | Gifts that land | Gifts to skip |
|---|---|---|---|
| First (weeks 1 to 12) | Tiredness, nausea, strong smells, keeping it quiet | Food she can face, a big water bottle, a cleaner booked for a few weeks, an early night | Anything that announces it in public, anything scented, anything sized |
| Second (13 to 27) | The 20-week scan, the bump arriving, the back and pelvis starting to complain | The birthing ball, the belt if she's said her back or pelvis hurts, maternity leggings, a photo session booked for later (ask her first) | Newborn clothes (she'll get forty sets), anything she has to assemble |
| Third (28 to 40+) | Sleep, swollen ankles, the bag, the waiting | The pregnancy pillow, compression socks, the hospital bag set, freezer meals, money for petrol and parking | Anything she'd need to return |
| After the birth | Feeding, healing, no sleep | Two sleep bras, the cleaner, meals delivered, a gift card, a short visit with coffee if she wants visitors | Visits that need hosting |
First trimester (weeks 1 to 12)
She's exhausted, probably queasy, and may not have told work yet, so a full fridge and a bathroom she didn't have to clean beat anything in a box. Ask before you bring food; what she can face changes by the day. Skip scent, and nothing baby-shaped in front of people she hasn't told.
Second trimester (13 to 27 weeks)
Her energy may well come back around now, and it's also when the back and pelvis tend to start complaining, which makes it the trimester for the ball.
Sitting on it in the evening gives the hips and lower back a break, from about 32 weeks it earns its keep for birth positions too, and the 100-page book in the box walks her through both. Size by height: 65cm up to about 5ft 8, 75cm from 5ft 10, either in between. The 65cm is the one that goes out most.
BABYGO® Birthing Ball (oatmeal)
The gift that gets used from the second trimester to the labour ward. £29 with the hand pump, £35 with the electric one, in 65cm or 75cm, with the 100-page pregnancy book in the box.
From £29 · Sold out
If she's mentioned pelvic pain, PGP or SPD, the support belt (£30, S to XXL) is a fair gift. It goes under the bump and takes some of the weight off the lower back and pelvis for the standing parts of the day: the school run, work, a walk. It won't fix PGP.
The NHS page on pelvic pain in pregnancy says a physio may recommend a support belt alongside exercises, so think of it as a help, not a cure. Order by her pre-pregnancy dress size, not her bump.
Third trimester (28 weeks to the end)
Sleep is most of the story now. The NHS advises going to sleep on your side from 28 weeks, and suggests supporting the bump with pillows and putting one between the knees. Ordinary pillows do that.
A pregnancy pillow is the tidier version, a comfort rather than a need: the Moon pillow holds the bump, the back and the knees in one piece, folds shorter for someone small, and carries on as a feeding support afterwards.
BABYGO® Moon Pregnancy Pillow (oatmeal)
The third trimester gift she may not have got round to buying herself. £49, full length, bump, back and knees supported at once, washable bamboo and cotton cover.
£49
Compression socks (£15) are the best small gift on this page. Ankles that swell gradually through the day are common in the third trimester and, the NHS says, not usually harmful, just uncomfortable; the socks go on first thing, before it starts.
Sudden swelling in her face, hands or feet is different: the NHS says to call the midwife, GP or labour ward immediately, because it can be a sign of pre-eclampsia. Wide calf is for anyone who's found socks dig in.
Then the bag. The Hospital Bag Essentials set (£35) is the part of the hospital bag checklist people forget: a maternity bra, postpartum knickers, a 0 to 3 months sleepsuit and a peri bottle, in her late pregnancy underwear size, and it wants to be ready by 34 to 36 weeks. Money for petrol and parking goes with it; hospital car parks aren't free everywhere.
After the birth
The fourth trimester is the one gift lists forget. Two nursing sleep bras (£22 each, S to XL), because a leak at 3am means the other one is on the next night; if she's between sizes go up. A gift card (£25 to £150) so she picks her own sizes for postpartum knickers and leggings.
And if she's up for visitors: bring the coffee, hold the baby while she showers, leave after 20 minutes. Some people want nobody for the first fortnight, so ask.
Follow your bump. Tell us your due date and we'll send what to expect each week, plus 10% off your first order.
Pregnancy gifts by budget (up to £15, £30 and £50)
Same ideas, sorted by what you've got to spend. Our prices are the current ones on the site.
| Budget | Ours | Not ours |
|---|---|---|
| Up to £15 | Compression socks, £15 | A batch of freezer meals, a box of the snacks she can face, parking money in a card |
| Up to £30 | Sleep bra £22, gift card £25, birthing ball from £29, support belt £30 | A month of an audiobook subscription, money towards a pregnancy massage, a litre water bottle and a decent lip balm for the hospital bag |
| Up to £50 | Hospital bag set £35, birthing ball with the electric pump £35, pregnancy pillow £49, gift card £50 | A deposit on a bump photo session, a good pair of maternity leggings, a takeaway and a film in for the two of them |
| Over £50, or club together | Gift card £75 to £150, or the pillow, the socks and the ball together | A cleaner for a month, a bump or newborn photo session, a night away with a good bed |
Before you buy. Check what she's already got; a second pillow or ball helps nobody. Confirm the size: ball by height, belt by pre-pregnancy dress size, bras and knickers by her current size, socks by shoe size, or a gift card if you can't ask. And leave time for delivery.
Gifts for a pregnant wife or partner
If you're her partner you've got an advantage: you know her dates, you know what hurts, and you can arrange the gifts that aren't things.
Extra hands. A cleaner for a month, booked and paid for. A meal delivery for the first fortnight home. A night off where you take every wake-up. Your share of the housework isn't a present, it's the deal; the present is the help neither of you would book otherwise.
For her birthday, when she's pregnant
Buy for her, not for the baby; the baby is getting plenty. A pregnancy massage from someone trained in it (check), dinner somewhere with a proper mocktail list, and something that says you noticed the bit she's finding hard. A necklace is fine. A necklace and a night off is better.
Gifts for a pregnant friend, sister or colleague
You know less, so buy less specifically. An office whip-round works best as a gift card plus one small real thing: the socks, or a box of good biscuits. For a close friend, the ball if she hasn't already got one (ask), or a card with a written offer she can cash in: a lift to an appointment, a meal cooked on a day she picks.
What not to buy a pregnant woman
Anything sized unless you've asked; guessing goes wrong in both directions. Anything strongly scented in the first trimester. Alcohol, including the "for after" bottle. Anything that assumes how she's giving birth or feeding. And another set of newborn clothes, unless it's 6 to 9 months, which nobody buys and everybody needs.
Questions we get asked
What's a good birthday present for a pregnant wife?
Depends where the birthday falls. First trimester, a quiet meal somewhere she picks and an early night, nothing she has to explain to anyone. Second, the ball or a massage. Third, the pillow if she hasn't got one, or a night away with a good bed and no long drive.
What do you get someone who's pregnant for the first time?
A first pregnancy is the one where nobody owns anything yet, so the bigger items are safe: the ball, with the book in the box doing the explaining, or the pillow. Second time round, buy what wore out: sleep bras, socks, and the help around the house she didn't get before.
What do you get a couple who are expecting?
A gift card they spend together on the boring necessities, or a night away with a good bed before the baby comes.
Is a gift card a cop-out for a pregnant friend?
No. Sizes change every few weeks in pregnancy and postpartum underwear has to fit, so letting her choose is the practical option. Ours go from £25 to £150 by email, which also sorts the friend 200 miles away.
Next: everything of ours mentioned here is in the pregnancy collection, and if she's in the third trimester, send her the hospital bag checklist with the gift.
