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Dreaming About Pregnancy? Here's What It Could Mean
Dreams can be a fascinating and informative peek into our subconscious. And when we have weird ones about things like spiders or an ex, it might make us question what it was all about. So what about dreaming of pregnancy?
To find out, we asked therapist and dream expert Leslie Ellis, Ph.D., about seven types of pregnancy dreams and what they might mean.
Before we dive in, she notes modern dream workers "offer their own ideas about what dream elements might mean but always leave the final say up to the dreamer." Only you can say for sure whether an interpretation makes sense for you—dreams are never one-size-fits-all.
Here, what your pregnancy dreams could mean and how to work through them.
If you dream that you are pregnant:
According to Ellis, dreams are typically metaphoric and symbolic—so no, dreaming you're pregnant doesn't mean you actually are (though it doesn't mean you're not). "That said, pregnancy is often thought to represent a creative process," she notes. If there's something like a project or goal you're working toward, it may be represented by a dream pregnancy.
If you dream about giving birth:
Along those same lines, to give birth in the dream would symbolize a creative project coming to fruition. For example, Ellis tells mbg she had lots of pregnancy dreams when she was working on her book, A Clinician's Guide to Dream Therapy, and then dreamed of a birth process when the book was released. "So, being pregnant can mean full of something, gestating a creative product, or the advent of something new and life-affirming," she adds.
If you dream that someone else is pregnant:
Ellis notes there's a range of possibilities if you're dreaming someone you know is pregnant but thinking back to the creativity theme, "It could mean you are involved in a creative process but that someone else is carrying the load, taking the credit, or doing something creative that you might be wanting for yourself." In this case, pay attention to who the specific person is and the nature of your relationship with them.
If you dream that a stranger is pregnant:
If you're dreaming of a pregnant stranger, perhaps even witnessing a birth, it could mean that you are "dissociated in some way from your own creative process," Ellis says. Maybe you having a creative endeavor you're not following up on, you're feeling uninspired, or you feel unable to start a project you feel called to.
If you dream of having pregnancy symptoms:
If your creation process is a little bumpy, this can show up in your dreams as morning sickness or another illness in pregnancy, Ellis says. "I have seen people have dreams like this when they are subverting their desire for creative expression." In this case, think about what roadblocks you're facing and how (or whether) you're dealing with them.
If you dream of finding out you're pregnant:
To dream of finding out you're pregnant, this can often represent a new beginning, or something life-changing. "Again, potentially a creative process," Ellis adds, "but it could also refer to any kind of new beginning that begins internally first and manifests outwardly later."
If you dream that you're unable to get pregnant:
And lastly, if you're dreaming that you can't pregnant, "This could be a case of writer's block, an inability to get something new started, or a challenge in coming up with a starting place for something new and/or creative in one's life," Ellis says. Of course, if you're a woman of child-bearing age and pregnancy or fertility has been on your mind, this could be interpreted more literally.
What to do about pregnancy dreams
Any kind of pregnancy dream might be a little alarming, but often, dreams are more symbolic than literal.
Still, Ellis says it's always useful to check in about the literal meaning of a dream, too. "Sometimes, our dreams are direct references to our waking life. [...] In dreaming, we can pick up subtle cues from the body not available to our waking mind, so if the pregnancy dream feels like a health warning or happy news about a real-life baby on the way, these are things the person may want to check out before moving into the metaphoric realm."
But if you're fairly certain you're not pregnant, Ellis says some good questions to ask yourself include:
- What can you sense about the new life that you're carrying?
- Do you know what it is that's now alive inside of you?
- What kind of new, creative energy is it bringing?
- What is needed to bring it to term?
- If you were to treat yourself "as if" it were a real pregnancy, how might you take extra care of yourself to ensure you're supporting the new life force growing inside you?
The takeaway
So whether you dreamed you were pregnant or had a full-blown birth, know there are lots of ways to interpret what it could mean, both literally and metaphorically. Think about your creative process, and some insight may come your way.
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