Dreams about going into labor while pregnant

Pregnancy dreams can be bizarre, weird, even crazy. Women tend to have more dreams (and more vivid dreams) during pregnancy due to changing hormones. And moms-to-be often remember their dreams better because their sleep is interrupted. Common pregnancy dreams involve babies, baby animals, and water. Pregnancy dream meanings often reflect anxiety, fear, or excitement about parenthood. Bad dreams and erotic dreams are common for moms-to-be, too.

How are pregnancy dreams different?

Dreams reflect your emotional state, so it's only natural that during pregnancy – a time of many mixed emotions – your dreams seem more intense and stranger than usual.

Also, hormonal changes (specifically, a surge in progesterone) make you dream more frequently and vividly. And you may be remembering more of your dreams if you're regularly waking up during the night, interrupting phases of dream-filled REM sleep.

As you find out more about your pregnancy and your growing baby, your dreams will evolve and you may dream different kinds of dreams during your first, second, and third trimesters.

Try not to be disturbed by your dreams – they simply reveal your apprehension and excitement about the huge change taking place in your life.

Vivid dreams in pregnancy

Dreams are like funhouse mirrors that reflect your emotional state. And considering pregnancy can feel like an emotional roller coaster, it's no surprise that your dreams may be more vivid than usual. Here are some typically wild pregnancy dreams:

First you give birth to ... your partner. Then you make a speedy getaway in a school bus! Finally, you're engulfed by a tidal wave.

You give birth to a litter of kittens. Then you sleep with your high school boyfriend. Now you're trying to leave – but you have too many bags to carry by yourself.

You're leading a cheer at a high school football game. You know you've had your baby, but you don't know where they are. Suddenly you remember: You left your baby at the gym!

Sex dreams in pregnancy

"For weeks I've been dreaming about my old boyfriend. Wild, sensuous dreams. I'm with him again, kissing and making love – it's as passionate as ever. What's going on?"

Many moms-to-be experience powerful sex dreams, especially during the final three months. The reasons for erotic dreams in pregnant women are varied. Some of it is physical: Extra blood flow to your genitals during pregnancy can heighten sensation, and raised hormone levels during pregnancy can boost your sex drive and lead to seriously steamy dreams.

There may be a psychological aspect as well. Some moms-to-be worry about the effect pregnancy will have on their sex life. And intercourse is often more awkward and less frequent during the final months of pregnancy. Without your usual frequency or intensity of sex, you may compensate for it in dreams.

Bad dreams during pregnancy

Bad dreams are common in pregnancy, especially in the last trimester. You have a lot going on physically and mentally, and while you sleep your mind is likely working through the anxieties and worries you have about your pregnancy, labor, and becoming a mom. It's not fun, but don't worry; you're not harming your pregnancy or your baby with your rough nights.

If you have specific worries, talk with your healthcare provider. Calming your fears might help reduce the number and intensity of scary dreams you're having. Take some time in the evening to relax before bed, too. Be mindful of what you read and watch and learn some relaxation techniques to help you drift off peacefully.

Pregnancy dream meanings

Pregnancy dreams may reflect your excitement, fear, and apprehension about the physical and emotional changes happening to you. 

It's common for pregnant women to dream about their baby, baby animals, body changes, water, and being in labor. Pregnant women have more babies and children in their dreams than non-pregnant women.

We asked psychologist and dream expert Patricia Garfield, author of Women's Bodies, Women's Dreams, to tell us what some common pregnancy dreams might mean.

Anxiety about birth and motherhood

"I give birth to a full-grown child. He's like a miniature adult, dressed like an adult, and walking and talking like an adult."

Patricia Garfield says:

Many moms-to-be dream of giving birth to a fully mature baby or grown child. Perhaps an older baby or child seems less threatening than a fragile newborn.

Early in pregnancy, first-time moms may not know much about the childbirth experience, and they often feel apprehensive. The combination of hopes for an easy delivery and an incomplete understanding of the actual process can lead to dreams of the baby "popping out" or simply appearing.

Awareness of your changing body

"I'm driving a car. At the same time, I carry a spare tire around my waist."

Patricia Garfield says:

A woman's feelings about her body may either improve or deteriorate during pregnancy. In this dream, the "spare tire" represents an expanding midsection.

Driving a vehicle is often a metaphor for the way the dreamer is moving through life at the moment. Pregnant women frequently picture themselves driving trucks, buses, or other vehicles that are more difficult to maneuver than cars in their dreams, reflecting their perception of awkward movement.

Researchers who have studied pregnant women's dreams note frequent references to buildings, from simple rooms to soaring skyscrapers. The dream buildings are often places where things are made, such as a factory or a shipyard, probably paralleling the "making" of a baby that is taking place inside the woman's body.

Awareness of your amniotic fluid

"I'm in a tropical rainforest. I learn that the projected rainfall is 700 inches! I'm amazed."

Patricia Garfield says:

From goldfish bowls to swelling oceans, a pregnant woman's dreams often feature water. A mother-to-be will often find herself swimming in her dreams. When animals appear in dreams, they may be aquatic creatures, such as tadpoles and fish.

This water in her dreams possibly depicts an awareness of the water gathering in her womb. Water in dreams may take on a dramatic form as pregnancy progresses.

Toward her due date, a pregnant woman is more likely to dream of water as a symbol of the "breaking waters" that announce imminent childbirth. One woman at the end of her second trimester dreamed of big ocean waves that rose around her.

Curiosity about the mother-baby connection

"While visiting my mother, I sit by myself in her living room. Near me on a chair is a pet of hers, a monkey. I keep my distance from him, afraid he might bite. He climbs around on the furniture and nibbles on some squash in a hanging basket."

Patricia Garfield says:

Many pregnant women's dreams feature animals that are baby-like, such as pups, chicks, and kittens. Depending on her attitude toward the pregnancy, her partner, and her situation, the animal may be either threatening or lovable. The dream above suggests this mom-to-be felt some ambivalence about the effect of the strange new creature coming into her life. Would its presence be destructive?

The presence of friendly animals – rare and charming creatures in dreams – is generally thought to represent a good relationship between the dreamer and his or her instincts. In the dreams of many pregnant women, animals are frequently cuddly and cute.

Worry about your partner's love or commitment

"I'm lugging around heavy baggage, several items, and so is my husband. I put one bag inside the other and offer this to him. He takes the doubled-up bag and I feel happy."

Patricia Garfield says:

In this dream, the husband is carrying a "double load," and the mom-to-be feels grateful.

Sometimes, an expectant mother may have nightmares that her partner is having an affair. Or she may picture other people propositioning her loved one. Such dreams express a sense of insecurity about holding the partner's love and attention through a time of great change.

For most women, happily, the insecurity is unfounded and passes. Many women actually find that going through the experience of preparing for a baby's arrival and giving birth bonds her and her partner in a deep way.

Wondering about your baby's sex

"I'm running through a meadow wearing a flowing gown. I can see the back of my child skipping before me happily. I can't tell from the back whether it's a boy or a girl."

Patricia Garfield says:

Sometimes a pregnant mother's dreams about the sex of her child are vague. Other times, mothers feel quite certain of their child's sex based on their dreams.

One researcher tried to verify how frequently pregnant women correctly sensed the sex of their unborn child by asking her subjects about predictive dreams. She found that 50 percent of the expectant mothers whose dreams she investigated had accurately dreamed of the baby's sex. The chances of having a child of either sex are also 50/50, so these subjects – as a group – predicted no better than chance.

Imagining your baby's face

"I'm having an ultrasound. I can see our baby girl, and she looks just like us. She has my eyes, all dark and sparkly, and my husband's cute little bow mouth. She's a mixture of us in miniature."

Patricia Garfield says:

Dreams offer the chance to imagine your child. Studies show that pregnant women see their babies in about 15 percent of their dreams. Other researchers have reported an even greater number of baby dreams during the third trimester.

Imagining the uncharted territory of birth and motherhood

"I'm boarding a plane, going off to a foreign country somewhere. I'm pregnant but not so much as I am now. I have a bad feeling, like I don't really want to go."

Patricia Garfield says:

This dream expresses an emotion women typically experience toward the end of pregnancy: fear of the unknown.

Giving birth can be like a journey to a foreign country. In addition to being depicted as a journey or an important commitment, birth may be represented in dreams as traveling through tunnels and corridors.

What does it mean when you dream about yourself being pregnant and giving birth?

What does it mean when you have labor dreams?