Dreams

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Here's What Dreaming Of Having A Baby Can Mean

You don’t have to be pregnant to dream about labor and delivery.

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Sure, women have been doing it since the dawn of time, but that doesn’t mean that childbirth isn’t some scary stuff. The mere thought of having to get that not-so-little baby out of what is a relatively small passageway is pretty frightening. So it’s no wonder that a dream about giving birth might seep into your nighttime slumber. But what if you’re not pregnant? Do the dreams still hold the same significance?

Dreams About Giving Birth When You’re Pregnant Can Be Your Brain Prepping You For Delivery

A dream about giving birth when you’re actually expecting is a no-brainer. It can be a representation of your excitement — and trepidation — at the whole birth/becoming a mother process. “If you are currently pregnant and dreaming of giving birth, this is the subconscious preparing you for the big event,” Lauri Loewenberg, a dream expert and author of Dream on It: Unlock Your Dreams, Change Your Life tells Romper. “It is common however for these dreams to include giving birth to strange things like a litter of kittens or a baby with a full set of teeth.” While those dreams can seem like a nightmare, don’t let it spook you, though. As Loewenberg points out, dreams about giving birth to a fish, for example, is simply an expression of your fear of an unexpected surprise at birth.

Dreams About Giving Birth When You’re Trying To Conceive Can Be Your Mind Cheering You On

If you’re trying to get pregnant, dreaming about giving birth might be a dream that you don’t want to wake up from. After all, it’s what you might want more than anything else, and waking up to find that it was all a dream can feel like your mind is playing a cruel trick on you. But actually, your imagination is doing the exact opposite. “Dreaming of giving birth when you are trying to conceive is very much like manifestation,” explains Loewenberg. “The subconscious is placing you in that real life experience so that you will continue to try.” Think of it as a mental motivation to move forward on your journey towards motherhood.

Dreams About Giving Birth Can Be The “Birth” Of A New Idea

When you dream about being pregnant, it might not be a baby that you’re delivering. In fact, a very popular interpretation of the birth dream has nothing to do with little humans at all. “If you are not pregnant nor trying to get pregnant, then pregnancy in a dream is connected to something in your life that is in the works: a degree, a project, an idea that is beginning to grow and develop,” says Loewenberg. “And when you give birth, it means this idea, project, degree, etc is coming to fruition, is emerging, and the result (like a baby) will be a new life for you.” So think about what you might be working on; maybe you’ve been logging a lot of hours at work in hopes of a promotion, or are thisclose to the completion of a home renovation. All of those aspects of your life can be the “birth” that you’ve been dreaming about.

Dream About Giving Birth Can Be About Expressing Your Emotions

Most dreams about giving birth all have one thing in common: they are about creation, whether it’s a baby or a project or idea. Thing is, there might be something else you need to deliver — and it just might be a message. “Sometimes giving birth in a dream can mean there is something you need to get out in the open,” explains Loewenberg. “It might be some news or an idea that you have been holding inside of you.” Ask yourself what is going on in your life that you might describe as a new development, or some hidden feelings you’ve been keeping down for too long that need to be addressed. You might need to get something off your chest, maybe to a friend, family member, or a loved one. It may signify that your relationship needs repair, so that it, too, can be born again.

Dream About Giving Birth Can Be About Connecting To Your Partner — Or Yourself

Your dreams are a way of seeing into your subsconscious and understanding what you’re really thinking about and how you’re feeling. When you’re dreaming, you might become aware of a disconnect, either with a loved one or even yourself. “Dreams about giving birth are often a call from our subconscious to create something new,” Adora Winquist’, a dream expert, explains to Romper. “It could be a harmonious relationship (or healing a current one) or even an aspect of ourselves that is called from deep within for development and transformation.” In that way, a dream about giving birth is your mind’s way of alerting you that you need to do a deep dive into your relationships to see what could use some sprucing up. It might be that the biggest relationship you need to work on is the one with yourself — you might need to work on understanding your emotions better, or even observe (and change) your outlook on life.

Dreams about giving birth are common, whether you’re TTC, expecting, or not even pregnant. As your subconscious shows you projects, ideas, or even emotions that are represented in the form of birth, it allows you to understand that this new element in your life must be loved and nurtured so that it can be brought to life. And in that way, your own life can become dreamy.

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