Pregnancy and Dreams
Birth Dreams During Pregnancy
Pregnancy is one of the most powerful experiences any woman can face. A woman’s body changes enormously during childhood and adolescence, but to meet such enormous physical, personal and social changes as an adult is a huge challenge. A woman’s dreams at such a time not only show some of the detailed events that are occurring physically, but also comment on psychological and relationship events and subtleties too. See A Woman’s Creative Power
Robert Van de Castle made a special study of women’s dreams during pregnancy – (Our Dreaming Mind). Other studies were made by Carolyn Winget and Frederic Kapp.
Castle found that during pregnancy women tend to dream about buildings and houses a lot more than in a control group. The dreams would be about things like adding a porch to the house, or seeing distorted parts of a building. These he felt were expressing the change in physical shape the woman was experiencing. As pregnancy progressed so did the shape or size of the buildings.
Those Scary Dreams
Other themes more common in the dreams of pregnant women than in those of a control group are those of animals and water. At first such dreams of water or animals may be calm, even healing, but later on in pregnancy there may be dreams of turmoil or even nightmare. Several studies show this is normal in the sense that it is experienced by many women, and probably reflects the anxieties unconsciously held by the woman about her unborn baby and about birth.
It is also very common for women to dream about actually having the baby, and these dreams are often bizarre or even disturbing to the dreamer. Winget and Kapp found that a high percentage of dreams showed this theme of anxiety, and by following their research through, they were able to observe that the more anxiety dreams a mother-to-be had, the easier the birth was. They conjectured that the anxiety dreams release a lot of tension and fear, and the mother is therefore more relaxed at the time of the birth – usually less than ten hours.
The anxiety dreams include such images as giving birth to a baby who is only a few ounces in weight – the baby is malformed – the baby is born dead – the baby is blind or deaf or injured.
On a positive note these pre-natal dreams may show the baby born and capable of walking and talking right away, or being a beautiful or holy child. Such dreams are also occasionally dreamt by men. Men may even dream of being pregnant and giving birth to a beautiful or holy child.
Castle was able to follow the dreams of over 200 pregnant women, often from about the time of conception through to their post natal situation and experience. One of his interests was to see if dreams showed signs of information about physical conditions that were not apparent at the time of the dream. He says that many dreams did in fact show that small shifts in the physical state, such as conception, were shown in appropriate symbols in the dreams of some women. So if you have a worrying dream about your baby it is worth making sure you check out its condition, something that with modern equipment is easily done. To quote Castle, “The unconscious mind of the pregnant woman seems able to monitor and detect biochemical imbalances, tissue abnormalities, or structural defects in the uterine environment and communicate an awareness of disturbed functioning through dream imagery, which is sometimes fairly literal, sometimes symbolic.”
You are in touch with your baby
But accounts of birth dreams stretch far back into history, and such dreams are said to occur long before conception. In these cases a woman – or sometimes a man – may dream of a child who may be conceived in the future.
Janet Smith, writing in the magazine Sundance about dreams she recorded prior to and during pregnancy, reports this dream:
Example: There are two puppies and some strawberry seedlings. My husband, Eddie, gives the puppies their shots and I plant the seedlings. The puppies run away. I lose one but retrieve the other which I fondle. I try to think up Italian names because it is an Italian puppy.
Janet connects this dream with the fact that she later became pregnant soon after stopping the birth pill, and lost the baby. Within weeks she was pregnant again and carried that child. Interestingly, Rosemary Guiley, in her book The Encyclopaedia of Dreams, states that many dreams occurring in connection with pregnancy include animals to represent the foetus. She gives an example of a dream in which a newly pregnant woman dreams of swimming amongst turtles, and says that amphibian creatures may represent the foetus. In later stages of pregnancy the baby may be represented by rabbits or a puppy as with Janet’s dream.
An interesting series of dreams was reported to me by a man who dreamt that an invisible being came to a room in which he and his wife were living. The spirit had a very powerfully presence and the dreamer felt afraid. Then the being spoke, saying, ‘Do not be afraid. I have come to ask you to make love to form a body for me.’
After the dream the man, already with several children, wondered about whether to take the dream seriously. He and his wife did make love. Two weeks later he dreamt that he heard his wife crying. When he went to her she told him she was pregnant and it was a difficult child to carry. Still in the dream he then knew that the pain was because the child was a special or unusual being who would be a male. Weeks later his wife was found to be pregnant. The child when born was a boy.
Usually the dreams which show conceptions are of a more symbolic nature. Castle quotes one in which the woman dreams she looks at an open shoe-box. Then a purring kitten active with a pink ribbon tied around its neck springs into the box. Straight away the sides of the box start to fold over, closing tight. The woman could feel the kitten moving anxiously against the side of the box, which now seemed to be zipped up.
Conception dreams may include such symbols as a room without doors or windows, putting bread in an oven, watching or getting involved with a creature in a pool or in water, seeing seeds grow or witnessing new plants develop. Some such dreams use the image of the strawberry, perhaps because it has a similarity to the budding cells in a foetus. Still others might use the image of a ploughed field or the earth and the moon. Often there is a feeling of pleasure or even a direct sense of conception linked with the images. A dream told me which seems typically to do with conception is – Last week I suddenly started having a recurring dream. In it I woke, walked downstairs, went into the kitchen and looked in the kettle. It was full of little fish. Karen LBC.
Castle mentions an interesting case in which a woman who had been attending an infertility clinic with her husband could clearly see conception in her dream when it occurred. For two years while attending the clinic she constantly dreamt of having a baby, but there was always a problem attached to it. The baby might be too small to handle, to large, or it was a doll not a real baby. Always there was a problem connected with being able to mother the baby. Then suddenly the dreams changed. She woke from a dream which left her with warm feelings of fulfilment. In it she satisfyingly held her baby for the first time. She says the dream must have occurred within hours of the moment of conception.
Hey – I’m pregnant!
These dreams can be so powerfully supportive that the prospective mother can face difficulties that without the dream, she might not have met with confidence. For instance Peggy, a woman who believed from medical evidence that she could not, and should not have any more children – she already had two teenage sons – dreamt she was in hospital and had given birth to a girl baby named Kathy. Peggy begs for the baby to be taken away, but a voice cries out – ‘YOU MUST HAVE THIS BABY’. Peggy awoke distressed as she deeply wanted a child. But when the pregnancy was confirmed she struggled with the decision as to whether she ought to keep it. She was suffering a nerve complaint which necessitated the taking of sixteen aspirin tablets a day. Medical advice had suggested this could lead haemorrhaging, to a haemophiliac child. But Peggy decided to go ahead with the pregnancy because the dream and the commanding voice haunted her. The baby when delivered was perfectly healthy and a beautiful child.
In his book Our Dreaming Mind, Castle describes many dreams which occurred to women during their months of pregnancy, which gave detailed information about the condition of the foetus and its future health or sickness. Mother-in-laws often appear in these dreams, giving positive advice, sharing information, or in some way being responsible for bad events.
Not only do the dreams point out details of what diet might be helpful, what might happen with surgical operations, what the physical health and development of the growing baby is, but often they detail the disposition and personality of the coming baby. In fact women have often told me that during the middle months, they often dream they are meeting their baby and know just what it is like. So the bonding in such cases begins before birth. The relationship starts in dreams and quiet moments of communion.
It must be stressed that nightmarish dreams are a common part of most pregnancies, and in general do not indicate any difficulty with the growing baby. As already said, women who experience more anxiety dreams usually have a shorter labour. One investigator suggests this is because these women are often more assertive in life and in their dreams. Where dreams indicate actual problems, they have an extremely vivid quality which leaves the dreamer with a deep sense of their truth. This conviction does not rest on anxiety, but on insight.
The positive dreams of a mother in which she has a sense of knowing her baby’s character, can reach far beyond the birth of the baby. They inform the mother long into the life of the child, aiding how the mother responds to problems arising in the long years of rearing.
The enormous number of women who experience unusual dreams about their conception and baby is an powerful indicator that human nature goes beyond the boundaries of the physical senses, and information we gain via them. The dreams create a picture of the mother as a weaver of a life from the many strands offered by family genetic material, the subtle living influences streaming from the past, and the events, standards and social life of our times. The mother is a co-creator, standing in mysteries which, while she may not understand consciously, she nevertheless touches through her dreams, and manifests in the life of the child.
For some very interesting features about pregnancy and your baby’s dreams, See Pregnancy; Baby Dreams; shorter labour; Pregnancy and Childbirth.
Comments
I had a drean that i gave birth to a baby girl. I already have children but am not sure if i am pregnant as we speak. have been anxious to find out but it’s too early waiting to see if i miss my cycle this month. what do you think it means cause where i’m from we believe that when you dream you birth a girl its usually the opposite.???thank you. Luisa
I am 20 weeks now, and will be due my 2nd scan. I have had a few dreams where I find out I’m having a girl. I am not bothered what I have, I have people around me many thinking it’s a girl. could this be the reason why I am seeing it in my dreams?
i had a dream at 33 weeks that i had my baby girl at 1:00 in the morning on my due date and that it went by so fast and she weighed 7 lbs 1oz and was 21 inches long. it was a really random dream cuz i hadnt really been thinking about going into labor much. it was one of those fuzzy dreams that were hard to make out what was going on but the details on the date,time,weight & length were very distinct. could this mean anything?
Hi , love some help with these dreams . Im not pregnant . Ive had 3 dreams first its ment to b a spa turns out its big rock pool river heaps of tiny fish swimming around my feet im scared of them lol , my partner is in the deep back part of the water his not scared theres huge eels jumping out behind him into another river . 2nd dream little spa pool 2 really nice coloured fish swimming into my legs they hurt to touch them im not scared i just try pick them up away from my legs . My partner again is sitting nex to some girl who looks preg , i look at my belly and hope im preg not her dont want her with my patner a fish net goes over her belly . 3rd i have a postive preg test god is there he brands my ear with a red stone earing. I argue with him about how i dont want to b preg or something like that . If u can help with the meaning of all this i would b so happy appreciative thank u 🙂
My goodness Megs – What amazing dreams!! They are so absolutely full of images about pregnancy.
Let us start with the rock pool/river. It is the flow of Life you and all of us are immersed in. It is what carries us or drives us on despite our little selves – what in fact grew you from a tiny seed in your mother’s belly. And the tiny fish are the seeds we grew from, the tiny sperm wanting to find a good home. You are scared of getting pregnant – probably been watching too many films where the delivering mother is always pictured in agony. See http://dreamhawk.com/pregnancy-childbirth/a-method-to-shorten-labour/
The bit where the eels are jumping is another neat image of your partner’s eagerness. Those eels depict his penis/sexuality. This shows you thinking he will jump into another woman’s river.
The second dream is a bit more hopeful. Realising that you do not want another woman carrying your partner’s child you try to pick them up from your legs but it hurts. But God/Life steps in and brands you with a red stone earring – a sure sign you will get pregnant. Even then you are sure you are not going to get pregnant.
Life has a way with these things.
Tony
I am 15 weeks pregnant and lately I have been having dreams of a baby girl this has been the 7th dream so far in the dream I never saw me at the hospital it was already maybe 3 months after and everytime the girl has a different name. And I remember the baby looks just like me and the dad. In like 3 dreams the girls are the same girl.
could this mean im having a girl?
even though everyone tells me im having a boy
Lydia – Lots of people do see their baby in their dreams – even the face and hair colour. But please do not be disappointed if it turns out to be a boy, as I am sure you will love whoever Life is giving you.
But please let me know as it would help me understand any other dreams like yours.
Tony
I was walking through the hospital to get familiar with the temporary job position before starting my shift. I’m on the third floor and I noticed some vary odd things. One, the door was open and I noticed three white men laying in three separate beds. I recall seeing the one closest to the door masturbating very hard until thick white sperm came out, which eventually it turned into a baby. Then I walked over to the other side of the unit and saw four beds with a mix of white men and white pregnant women in the room. This is rather strange I thought. How could the hospital have pregnant women and men masturbating in cups in the same room? I saw woman’s belly from afar and she was moving from side to side as if she was in discomfort or trying to get comfortable.
Later on I had a dream about seeing a super thick dark penis that had thick black hair between the head and shaft of the penis. The penis was just one large irregular looking penis. But what got to me, there were eyes staring at me over the head of the penis which could have been me looking at myself.
I am not expecting magic…can you help me decipher some of my dream?
I am 12 weeks pregnant waiting for my scan, after a miscarriage we have only told minimal people. I dream I am doing things, talking to people shopping for clothes but I am always hiding the secret I’m pregnant, sometimes there is even a large belly or I’m pushing an empty pram and think I’m going to get found out.
Tonight though I dreamt of a little boy who lost his grandad the grandad was always there though in spirit looking at him I was the boy and was so scared he was just looking at me. I go away for a while the building decays I somehow know aliens have abducted me because my husband isn’t here for them to take him then I’m this little boy again running in the building my grandad just staring after me, at this point I want him to protect me.
Jen – The first dreams are probably produced by your feelings of losing the last baby. Whatever you feel becomes a reality in your dreams – like a magic mirror. But I know from past experience that taking vitamin C and E can help prevent miscarriages. You need a 500 mlg tablet each day, the sort that takes a while to digest, and 200 mlg vitamin E each day.
The second dream is extraordinary. It seems that you really know what this dream is about inside you. It seems you have become the baby and so it is about the baby boy you are carrying and will give birth to. But there are worries that you carry from the past that cannot help but influence your unborn child. That is what the building decaying is about, they are the aliens. But they are only your own inner worries and can be changed.
I want you to imagine that your baby is within a sphere of protection that will let no harm enter. See that sphere filled with light and love, your love. I know that your worries are a form of love, but it is a good thing to divert those energies that are destructive to ones of love and support. You can do that because you love your child.
Also speak to your dream granddad and ask him to keep watch over this baby and protect it – he can hear you and will respond.
Blessings.
Tony
Hi, I’m not pregnant but I am 17 an engaged to the most perfect guy for me, since December 22 I have been havin dreams that I am pregnant with triplet, and about 6 months pregnant on our wedding day, I keep seeing 2 boys and 1 girl in my dreams. It’s kinda nerve reckin when it’s been happenin everynight. The dreams have been so real that I actually reach for my tummy to see if I can feel the movement my fiancée is getting a little concered cause he as also been havin the same dream as I. Do you think you can help out a bit?
Hi there,
last night i had a beautiful dream of being in a water park where the waters were pure and little baby turtles had escaped. I was going to go down a water flume but this little baby turtle wanted to come with me. The turtle kept snuggling me even when I was urging it to go back to the other turtles. I can not remember if it came with me. I had this real sense of love for this little turtle though, it was a cute kind of cartoon dream. as the turtle was cute and cudley not a real life turtle.
I am twenty one weeks pregnant having a boy, i really wanted a girl. I am wondering if the dream has anything to do with this?
I had a dream that I was in a house that was falling apart.. and i kept falling through the floor into this huge thing of water. ??
Kayla – Your house falling apart usually means that your present view of life, even your body might be changing. It is about a massive change that is going on in you.
Falling through the floor means that things you used to believe in and trust are no longer things you can rely on. It is again about a big change in your views or beliefs – but it is not a bad thing, though of course or takes some getting used to, to see and feel the world around and within you changing.
The water that you fall into is feelings that you may never have experienced before and is a deeper entrance into your inner life. Most of us are so centred about what is taking place outside they are totally lost to what is taking place within them. And the inner world is as vast as and even more wonderful than the outer world.
If you are pregnant, then the changes are occurring in connection with that.
Tony
Ok so im 18 weeks and having a boy. One of my dreams where giving birth to a healthy baby girl. and the other night i dreamt of my boyfriend lighting me on fire cuz i was preganat but last night i had a dream of me going into at 23 weeks and hes dead. but after awhile of crying hes alive and had to stay in the hospital. I had lost 4 pregnatices and i thinking its cuz of thst but i cant help but worrie anyone else had a dream of their baby dead?
I had a daughter my daughter was pregnant 2 nights in a row? She’s a 21 yr old in college working and not thinking about becoming pregnant right now? What does this mean??
i’m 35weeks pregnant and over the last 2 days i’ve noticed my dreams have been closely alike. i dream i’m at home and that i have the baby in my home, in both dreams the delivery itself doesnt appear but in both dreams the child was delivered at home. in the first dream i was confused asking when did i have the baby, trying to get the time of birth and weight. in the second dream the baby was born but the cord snapped, i tied the baby off but the placenta and cord on my end were still inside. in the first dream the baby looked about 2-3months old where as the second dream it was average newborn size. do these dreams mean that i will have the baby at home, early or is it just my body dealing with the worry of what ifs?
I had a dream a baby fell out of me and the umbilical cord was still attached. Whats the meaning of that. Reply at holyland_sounds@yahoo.com
Mrs Williams – I am not sure from what you wrote whether you were still attached to the baby by the umbilical cord or whether it was just the baby and the cord had been cut. It makes an enormous difference to what the dream means.
If the cord was not cut it suggests that you and the baby were one being – the baby was you at a young age, and what you gave birth to is an extension of you, a new part of you that only now could exist.
The forming baby links to its mother through the umbilical cord. This remarkable link brings nourishment to the forming child, and is again an enormous self giving of the mother’s being to that of her baby. In a very real way, the umbilical cord is the flow of life. If it were cut without any substitute the baby would die.
At a psychological level losing the connection gives rise to the fear of dying. Having the connection brings the ability to meet life’s difficulties with confidence and resources.
Having been witness to many births a very obvious event is the cutting of the umbilical cord. What is not always so obvious is that the baby almost immediately tries to reconnect. It does this in two ways. Firstly through the mother’s breast. Through that connection it again receives nourishment, but it also receives in the milk things that help it meet the infections and threats confronting it in the external world. Again, the connection means survival.
Tony
hi i had a dream i was pregnant ut didnt know the sex of the baby , so i stretched the skin on my belly to reveal a healthy baby boy.
I then give birth and name him aaron james.
after my dream i told my mum all about it and she said that she wanted to call my brother aarron but my nanna who has passed wouldnt let her .