What Does It Mean When You Dream About Being Pregnant?

14 Different Meanings for Dreams About Being Pregnant

Depending on your opinion about being pregnant, experiencing a pregnancy-related dream can elicit feelings of happiness, fear, or even dread. It is important to understand that dreams are often not literal- meaning that they often represent something subconscious- or deeper inside us. Dreams are symbolic representations of the inner workings of our minds and emotions.

When considering the meaning behind pregnancy-related dreams, it can be important to look at the context of the dream: are you safe at home with family or alone and pregnant in a scary place? Do you feel comfortable and happy or scared? When beginning to understand our dreams, it is important to look at the situation at hand, as well as the feelings involved, to get a true understanding of the dream’s meaning.

Here are 14 possible different meanings for dreams about being pregnant:

1. You Are Ready To Settle Down

Having a dream about being pregnant can be interpreted as being ready to settle down, especially if you feel content and secure in the dream. This does not necessarily mean that you are ready (or wanting) to get pregnant, but it can mean that you are ready to purchase a home and settle in a new community, start a life with your partner, or settle down in other ways.

2. Something is Beginning

A dream where you are expecting can sometimes mean that something in your life is beginning. This is usually the case if the dream is about you being in the early stage of pregnancy, such as having just conceived, or finding out you are pregnant at a clinic or during a home test.

3. You Are Experiencing a Loss

A pregnancy dream where you dream about a miscarriage, or about losing a pregnancy or losing a baby during birth, can signify you are experiencing a loss of some kind in your life. This can represent a sense of loss that you are dealing with in your waking life, such as losing a friend or even a part of yourself.

4. You Are Unprepared for Something

Sigmund Freud based many of his conclusions on his assumptions that all women have a desire for pregnancy and motherhood,² and thus likely attributed pregnancy-related dreams to this. However, today we know that this is not always the case, and that there are many different reasons why someone could dream about being pregnant.

It is just as likely for someone who does not want to become pregnant to have a pregnancy dream. In this case, it likely means they are unprepared for a change in their life.

5. You Have Something Emotional to Work Through

If you dream about pain during pregnancy, especially labor pains, this could mean that you have something to work through emotionally, as emotional and psychological pain are often reflected in our dreams as physical aches or pains.

Dreaming is the mind’s way of processing this emotional pain, especially for those who are unable to explore their emotions during the daytime. “Dreams seem to help us process emotions by encoding and constructing memories of them.”³

6. You Are Developing a New Side to Yourself

Being pregnant in a dream can mean that you are creating a new personality or developing a new aspect of yourself that you are showing the world. Perhaps you are maturing or healing from inner traumas, and are putting this new side to yourself forward.

7. You Are Confronting a Change or Fear

Our dreams are often a way for us to work through our stressors or anxieties about our personal life. Think about how you felt during the dream, without focusing too much on the content or the pregnancy itself.   If you felt scared in the dream, for example, maybe it meant you are scared about something else that is going on in your life that you have been avoiding.

8. You Have a New Responsibility

Pregnancy, and thus child rearing, is arguably one of the most difficult responsibilities in one’s lifetime. The dream of a pregnancy can represent having a new and challenging responsibility, even one that has nothing to do with pregnancy.

9. You Are Worried About A Prior Pregnancy Loss

It is no surprise that dreaming about a pregnancy can happen to those who have unfortunately lost a pregnancy. Because dreams are our mind’s way of working through difficult experiences and emotions, having a pregnancy dream could be your fears or worries coming through.

Researchers have found that those who are pregnant following a pregnancy loss have a greater chance of emotionally difficult dream content. “Sleep patterns and dream content may be affected by stressful life events such as pregnancy loss. Women who are pregnant subsequent to a prior pregnancy loss tend to have anxious and emotionally charged experiences during their pregnancies.”⁴

10. You Have Forgotten or Misplaced an Important Goal

If you dream that you are suddenly heavily pregnant, and have no knowledge or recollection of the first couple trimesters, this can represent that you worry you are neglecting something important. Similarly, if you dream that you have a baby, and have forgotten about it, this also points to concerns that you have duties or responsibilities that you have not been adequately attending to.

11. You Are Concerned About Your Parenting or Ability as a Mother

Experiencing scary dreams in which you have put your unborn child at risk, or even nightmares that your baby is unsafe are common among postpartum mothers. Researchers in 2007 found that postpartum women reported experiencing nightmares that revealed anxieties about emotional concerns, or “negative aspects of maternal responsibility” such as dreaming about the new infant in danger.⁵

The researchers attributed these nightmares to sleep disruption and changes in hormones,⁵ but many mental health clinicians would agree that this is likely a normal stage in parenting and motherhood due to the anxieties and concerns that come from caring for a newborn.

12. You Are About to Complete or Reach a Goal

If you are giving birth in the dream, either actively or even preparing for the imminent birth during your dream, this could represent the nearing completion of a goal or the end of a hurdle. Being heavily pregnant and about to give birth, this could symbolize that you are getting to the final stage of a project or goal.

13. You Are Ready for Motherhood or Parenthood

Sometimes dreams can have a simple explanation. If you dream about being pregnant and feel excited about this possibility in the dream, it could be your mind’s way of revealing your readiness to be a parent.

14. You Miss That Time in Your Life

The age of the person dreaming about being pregnant can impact the dream’s meaning. For people outside of childbearing age, dreaming about pregnancy can sometimes mean missing that time, or a sign of worrying about an “empty nest”, or just nostalgia for early motherhood.

Spiritual Meaning of Being Pregnant in a Dream

For many, dreams about being pregnant are often linked to spiritual meanings or a representation of one’s spiritual potential. Because spiritual interpretations are very broad and vary by culture and individual beliefs, there can be many different meanings about pregnancy dreams.

Some cultures believe that a dream about a baby growing in a womb represents spiritual growth and beginnings. The idea of new life can be symbolic, representing changes in someone’s life or having something about to be emerged or “birthed.” In some African cultures, having a pregnancy dream can represent messages from one’s ancestors or messages for the family.⁶

Boy Vs. Girl Pregnant Dreams

Many believe that there are different meanings for dreaming about being pregnant with a boy or a girl. Dreaming about being pregnant with a boy can represent the masculine parts of the dreamer, such as strength and growth. Being pregnant with a girl can symbolize the feminine parts of them, such as compassion or nurturing feelings.

Twin Pregnant Dreams

There can be different meanings for dreaming about being pregnant with twins.This could mean that you have a lot on your hands such as multiple work projects or relationship stressors. Maybe you have a lot of responsibilities and you feel like you’re being pulled in two different directions.

Another meaning to twin dreams is the idea of “having two minds” about something-such as having conflicting feelings about a situation or feeling like you are being pulled by two different options for a decision.

When to Seek Professional Support

Having an occasional pregnancy-related dream is common for most people, and it is often not a cause for concern. However, if you find that you are becoming distressed due to the content of your dreams, or if your dreams are bringing up difficult feelings, it might be time to seek support. Look for a therapist who specializes in sleep or dreams by using a therapist directory. There are many therapists who practice holistic therapy or jungian therapy as a tool for examining these dreams.