Vivid dreams of pregnant women

Almost psychic Dreams allow the mind to make space for the child, which shows why a pregnant woman's dreams can be so bizarre, explains Dr Beena Jays

Dreams are like funhouse mirrors that reflect your emotional state. Women also seem to dream more during pregnancy and are more likely to remember their dreams.

They also notice that certain themes crop up in their dreams again and again, leading them to wonder about the meanings of dreams in pregnancy. Pregnant women may often wonder what meaning there is, if any, to what they experience in their dreams.

The themes a woman encounters in her dreams can change as her pregnancy progresses. Pregnancy dreams reflect your excitement, fear, and apprehension about the physical and emotional changes happening to you. They point to certain themes that maybe common to each stage of pregnancy.

Some of the themes are based on their trimesters. A pregnant woman's dreams tend to change with each trimester and often follow a predictable pattern that reflects the pregnancy's progression. The following is a list of the various dreams that recur during the various trimesters:

1st Trimester

*  Anxiety about birth and motherhood: This type of dream is when the woman has just conceived and she is scared about her inexperience about how to handle a new born. They dream of giving birth to a fully mature baby or grown child. 

* Self-consciousness about the changing body: A woman's feelings about her body may either improve or deteriorate during pregnancy. They dream of buildings like a factory or a shipyard which can be related to the "making" of the baby.

*  Awareness of your amniotic fluid: A pregnant woman can also dream about the water as she deals with water throughout her pregnancy. They dream of aquatic animals like tadpoles, and fish.

2nd Trimester

*Curiosity about the mother-baby connection: During this phase, the woman dreams about animals that are more baby-like, say pups and kittens. Depending on the frame of mind, she dreams that the animal is threatening or lovable.

*  Insecurity about your appearance: Most mothers-to-be share a concern about their changing figure and its effect on their sex life and this is reflected in their dreams. The mother sometimes finds herself tortured by nightmares that her husband is having a love affair. These type of dreams also expresses her sense of insecurity of holding her mate's love and attention during this phase.

3rd Trimester

*  Predicting your baby's sex: At this phase, mothers-to-be feel quite certain of the sex of their forthcoming child based upon their dreams.

* Imagining your baby's face: Dreams at this phase give a chance to the mother-to-be to imagine the face of their child. Some of the expectant mothers predict the face of the baby quiet accurately.

* Choosing your baby's name: The dreams during this phase can help in choosing names. Some Indians also believe that the names that occur in their dreams have a certain power.

Final Weeks

* Imagining the uncharted territory of birth and motherhood: The dreams that occur during this phase, depicts pregnancy as a journey or an important commitment, may be represented as traveling through tunnels and corridors or the bursting of great waters.

*Waiting for your baby's arrival: Mothers-to-be dream about a game unfinished and the result unknown. It depicts the wait for the child that brings the joy in the end.

* Taking responsibility as a parent: Taking charge, having confidence in oneself, and being in command may help a woman to cope with the job of giving birth to their child. People dream about the responsibilities of the parent and help them mentally prepare the birth of their child.