Having your first baby is a life-changing milestone for any new mother. It offers a new change of pace for soon-to-be mothers preparing for their baby’s arrival and for people deciding if they’re ready to embrace parenthood. I know you might be feeling many things, but you don’t need to worry.
Sometimes, you might find yourself dreaming about the day you become a mother months before it happens. You might already be pregnant, or you might have dreams out of the blue at the weirdest times and places. At times, these dreams may have clarity, while other times they don’t.
Several experts, such as Lauri Loewenberg (Dream Expert to the Stars) say these dreams represent new goals or a new start in life.
From one mother to another, I’m here to tell you that dreaming about birth is an everyday thing for all of us. While the circumstances of how often they occur may differ from person to person, there are meanings behind them. Once you understand these unsettling dreams, you might find that they don’t happen as often.
Meanings Behind Birth Dreams
Dreams are so abstract that we might not understand what we see or feel in our subconscious. Even if you aren’t pregnant, you can still dream about giving birth. The impact we feel from these dreams may differ from person to person, but they may share similar symbolism or meaning.
Thinking About New Life Changes
One possible meaning behind birth dreams circles back to an expecting mother having new responsibilities or changes in your life. Sometimes, these feelings of change are positive, while some might feel negative pressure. If you’re worried about this experience, you may be more prone to having nightmares about the fear of childbirth or having pregnancy complications.
New mothers who worry about their new responsibility as a parent might manifest in dreams where they forget or misplace their babies.
If you’re not pregnant, you can still experience these dreams if you’re experiencing new events in your life, such as a new career path, relationship, or interest.
Dreaming About How Well Your Birth Goes
If you dream about having a difficult birth, you might be facing internal conflict about achieving your goals. Having a baby might take time away from your other interests or goals, so you may need to find a balance to keep yourself from becoming overwhelmed. On the opposite end, dreaming about an easy birth might be a sign of success and happiness.
Concern About Your Baby’s Health
If you happen to have dreams about giving birth to an animal or monster, you might be fearful of your baby’s health. I know it’s easy for mothers to worry about their kids’ health and well-being — I do it all the time! But these dreams can also indicate that you have fears about your life changing as you become a parent.
If you’re stressing about your baby’s health (or someone else you care for, if you’re not pregnant or a mama yet) and are in a negative state of mind, you’re more likely to dream about them crying. If not, you might have control or satisfaction in your life, and dream about your baby being happy to see you.
Dreams Related to Your Body’s Changes
Some of the dreams you have may also correlate with how your body changes during your pregnancy. For example, if you have dreams related to water, you might be aware of your body’s amniotic fluid growth and the connection to your womb. Your body’s increased hormone production can also play a role in the dreams you have.
Dreaming About Birth While Pregnant
This one might not be so strange: dreaming about giving birth while you’re pregnant is actually pretty normal. Here are a few causes for these types of birth dreams.
Hormone Production
Typically, your body will produce greater levels of certain hormones during pregnancy, including hCG, hPL, estrogen, and progesterone. As your hormones rage, you’re more prone to experiencing impacts on your emotional and cognitive function. The more extreme these levels are, the more likely you’ll experience dreaming about birth.
Depending on which trimester you are during your pregnancy, you might experience these physical, emotional, and psychological effects from your hormones and feel drained.
If you’re feeling nervous from a dream about your future children, it might be a sign that your body’s hormones are increasing your stress levels.
Stress and Anxiety
Becoming a mom puts a lot of pressure on many people and could affect how they process and think about the future. Pregnancy is a stressful time for some and affects their state of being. Many people may cope with their anxiety better than others but are still prone to having these dreams.
Anxiety may branch from your feelings about your maternal responsibility. These dreams might develop into nightmares about stuff happening to you or your baby and are quite common for pregnant and postpartum mothers.
Some people feel that their dreams might predict the future, but in most cases, I think it’s related to stress interfering with your logical thinking. When I was having my first kid, my stress made me have nightmares about being stuck in a pit full of kids.
Sleep Pattern Disruptions
Another possible cause of your dreams about birth is the disruption of your sleep patterns. As your body goes through changes before giving birth, it might function in unpredictable ways. While you may find yourself getting more sleep during your pregnancy, you may feel less pleasant when you do because of the taxing exhaustion you have throughout the day.
Examples of sleep pattern changes include sleeping at different time intervals, being unable to sleep, and waking up throughout the night to vomit or urinate. If you experience any of these, it will affect your REM and how often you dream.
Who Should I Reach Out To If My Dreams Get Too Extreme?
As you experience dreaming about birth, you might find it challenging trying to cope with them. You can seek out several outlets if you feel that these vivid dreams might affect your well-being. I recommend talking to a family member, friend, partner, or therapist if you feel overwhelmed about the intensity of your birth dreams.
If you continue having issues sleeping, try contacting your doctor for a solution that benefits you and your family (and any baby on board). They might have suggestions on ways to keep your sleep patterns balanced and uninterrupted.
You can also keep a dream journal to write down the dreams you can vividly remember. Reflecting on the dreams and their commonalities may offer some insight!
Dream On?
Dreaming about giving birth or just being pregnant can be unsettling if you’re not expecting It can be even more frustrating if you don’t plan to have kids or you aren’t ready for a second or subsequent pregnancy!
The good news is that pregnancy dreams don’t necessarily mean you’re pregnant — but they do indicate that there’s something in your life you need to address. Spending some time exploring your feelings can help you figure out just why you’re having these weird dreams and may even help alleviate them.
