What does it mean when you dream about giving birth while not pregnant?

Life

Updated: Sep. 7, 2019

Originally Published: June 14, 2018

Maybe it dramatically involves the process of giving birth itself, or maybe you're just acutely aware of the fact that a baby is on the way beneath your growing bump. Whatever the case, it isn't a real pregnancy, at least not in your waking life. So what does it mean when you have pregnancy dreams but definitely aren't pregnant? There's no reason to rush to the drugstore for a pregnancy test, because these dreams are not uncommon.

Depending on your current life situation, these real-seeming dreams can kind of freak you out. But these dreams aren't necessarily your unconscious mind trying to make a real pregnancy known.

“Pregnancy dreams can be literal or metaphorical — even men dream of being pregnant,” as mental health and well-being trainer Delphi Ellis tells Romper.

For something that you deal with on a nightly basis for most of your life, dreams never totally lose their sense of otherworldly weirdness. Even if you know that you didn't just give birth to twins in the back of a movie theater or something, the feelings that these dreams drag up can be so real. So if you've been thrown for a loop by a pregnancy dream recently, check out the potential meanings. You can rest assured that plenty of other people are just as baffled by dreams as you are, and they've put a lot of time and effort into understanding these weird nighttime visions.

1

You're Experiencing Positive Personal Growth

Here's a pleasant thought. Maybe the dream means good things are headed your way. "Most of the time, however, dreaming about being pregnant is a positive indication that you are experiencing progress and growth in your life," said Lauri Loewenberg, professional dream analyst, in Hello Giggles. Hopefully it means your life is headed in a fresh and positive direction.

2

You Need To Face A Big Change

The pregnancy dream might point to an unsolved issue in your life. In general, a dream about pregnancy may unveil some feelings of uncertainty or unease over change in your life, as noted in Refinery 29. Maybe something feels out of control, or you're experiencing concerns about your career.

3

A New Project Or Event Is Underway

Maybe your dream about a coming baby is really about some new project. “Another dream meaning of pregnancy is the gestation period before a new event occurs,” as Pamela Cummins, expert dream interpreter, tells Romper. “Whether that is beginning a new career, moving across the country, planning a wedding, writing a novel, and so forth.” Is there another major change in your life going on?

4

You're About To Get Creative

Several experts mentioned the connection between pregnancy dreams and creative expression. “It is, in fact, a perfect symbol to represent the creative potential of any aspect of life. All human beings understand gestation and birth on a fundamental level, and so the universal meaning of creative potential is what is being expressed when someone dreams of pregnancy,” as dream expert Dr. Michael Lennox tells Romper.

Maybe the dream means you're about to create something new. "At its core, this dream is about creativity," said Ally Mead, who has studied at the Jungian Institute of Los Angeles, in HuffPost. “Women literally create new life out of their bodies. If you dream of being pregnant, you are likely craving time to be creative, or ‘dreaming up’ a new and exciting creative project that will come into existence down the line." Whether you're painting your masterpiece or redecorating a room, some creative project will soon be underway.

5

You Need A New Creative Hobby

If your creativity has been stifled for a while, then the dream may point to the need for a new hobby. Basically, a dream about being pregnant can mean you need a new creative outlet, as noted in Baby Med. Do you crave a new way to express yourself?

6

Babies ARE On Your Mind

What if you have been thinking about growing your family? “Dreaming about a pregnancy might be a premonition of having a child in the near future; however, it depends upon the dreamer. For instance, if a woman is in the process of in vitro fertilization, her pregnancy dream can be showing her desire to have a child,” says Cummins.

7

You're Super Stressed

Do you have a lot going on? Sometimes a dream about falling pregnant, and the ways that would complicate your life, means you're already stressed out to the max, as noted in Hello Baby Bump. It may be a sign that you need to decrease the stress load in your work or personal life.

8

Whatever You Decide

Not everyone believes dreams necessarily have some deeper meaning at all. In fact, some modern neuroscientists think that dreams don't necessarily mean anything, because they are just the byproduct of your nighttime neurological processes, as noted in Psychology Today. So if you have a dream about being pregnant, maybe you aren't secretly wishing for a child or anything. It's just the way your brain happened to defrag that particular night.

The interpretation is up to you, especially in terms of the emotional response. “Please pay attention to your feelings and actions that occurred in the dream for a better understanding of the dream’s message,” says Cummins. Basically, dreams about pregnancy can have whatever meaning you decide.

This post was originally published on 6/14/2018. It was updated on 9/7/2019.

This article was originally published on June 14, 2018