Pregnancy dreams

Why your dreams take centre stage when you're expecting

Janette Platana,

Originally published in Today's Parent April 2003

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The vivid dream life of pregnancy seems to be one of those “trade secrets” that each expectant mom discovers for herself. Friends and experts help prepare you for bodily changes during pregnancy, but the fertility of the pregnant mind can feel private, personal and unexpected. For me, venturing to share scenes from my nightly theatre of the imagination with other mothers and mothers-to-be confirmed what I already suspected: The pregnant mind creates a different kind of dream life.

Dreams during pregnancy are often intense, rich in imagery new to the dreamer and emotionally charged — and they may maintain that charge on waking. Put it down to hormones, anxiety or heartburn, increased blood flow to the hippocampus or dream fairies. Pregnancy dreams can feel anxious, funny, and weird.

Like babies, dreams during pregnancy are as individual as snowflakes, yet follow a path of development that is no less miraculous for its predictability. We know for certain that fertilization, cell division and cell formation explains “where babies come from.” And we know that when you meet your baby for the first time, you will look into the eyes of mystery, and mystery will look back at you, and you will wonder anew where babies come from. Dreams are the same: There are many theories of the origin of dreams and their meanings, but in the end, no one really knows where dreams come from or what they mean.

Your dreams are unique — as unique as your pregnancy, unique as your baby to come.

That said, there is an undeniable similarity to the content of the dreams pregnant women dream, even to the timing of these dreams by trimester.

In her book, The Dream Worlds of Pregnancy, Eileen Stukane describes how dreams of the ocean and of lush fields of fruits and flowers are common during the first trimester, when a woman’s awareness of her own fertility is high.

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