Pregnancy Dreams
Dreaming about pregnancies is quite common for women, and it sometimes can reflect fears about the pregnancy. Pregnancy dreams are often described as exceptionally vivid and sometimes just plain crazy. Experts say that dreams become more vivid during pregnancy because of increased progesterone and increased awakenings from dream-filled REM sleep. It is very common for pregnancy dreams to follow the natural pattern of childbirth thus changing as the mother’s concerns about the developing pregnancy changes.
Dreams that are prevalent during pregnancy include dreams of marital infidelity, death of the partner, birth defects, losing the pregnancy, and of having twins or multiples.
Infidelity and death of the partner dreams often are played out in response to feelings of insecurity due to appearance changes or changes in sexual relationships during pregnancy.
Dreaming about possible birth defects or of losing the child represents anxiety on the part of the woman that something may be wrong with the child or that the mother may not be taking care of themselves properly.
Dreams of having twins may be a sign the pregnancy is overwhelming at some level for the woman. This dream can also be a sign of insecure feelings of not being a capable mother.
Dream expert, Patricia Garfield, Ph.D. outlines some typical pregnancy dream images and the probable stimulus in her article, “Pregnancy and Childbirth Dreams”. For the full article, visit her website
http://www.patriciagarfield.com.
Women’s Pregnancy
Dream Symbols
1st Trimester Dream Symbols Probable
Stimulus
Easy labor and
childbirth Awareness
of conception
Mature baby Hopes
for easy childbirth
Gardens, fruits,
flowers, seeds Fertility,
inner growth
Carrying heavy bag,
trouble walking Awareness
of weight gain
Dangers or intruders Fear
of motherhood
Open doors, falling,
drowning, loss, blood Fear
of miscarriage
Factories,
construction Awareness
of growing fetus
Small, structures,
miniatures Awareness
of small fetus
Water, swimming The
womb’s internal fluids
Small aquatic animals Awareness
of fetus in fluid
2nd Trimester Dream Symbols Probable
Stimulus
Love affairs with former lovers Desire to
feel attractive
Husband being helpful Need
for support
Husband being difficult Feeling
insecure, unstable
Husband having love affair Insecurity
of attractiveness
Cuddly animals: puppies, kittens,
chicks Awareness
of enlarging fetus
Mother being helpful or harmful Hopes for
own motherhood
3rd Trimester Dream Symbols Probable
Stimulus
Baby's sex and appearance Hopes
and fears for baby
Special communication with baby Wish to know
baby
Large animals: lion, ape, monkey Awareness of
enlarged fetus
Great waters Amniotic
sac breaking
Details of labor and delivery Hopes
and fears about labor
Journeys, being lost Fear
of the unknown
Rituals, ceremonies, holidays, Anticipation
of joy of birth
*These
are general trends, not isolated categories; themes and images overlap between
trimesters
and vary with individual dreamer. List is not conclusive.
This
article is based on material from Patricia Garfield's Women's Bodies, Women's
Dreams, chap. 6, Ballantine, © Patricia Garfield, 1988. Patricia Garfield,
Ph.D. is a worldwide authority on dreams. She is one of the six co-founders of
The Association for the Study of Dreams and is the 1998-99 President. Her
bestseller Creative Dreaming is considered a classic, available in fourteen
languages. www.patriciagarfield.com
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