Most pregnant women experience an increasing frequence of exceptionally vivid dreams, including nightmares that can be terrifyingly intense.

The vividness of pregnancy dreams is primarily caused by changing hormone levels. The contents or subjects of your dreams, especially nightmares, often reflect either specific or general fears and anxiety regarding the welfare of your baby, your own well-being, and/or your concerns about the pregnancy, the birth experience, and/or your ability to be a parent. Your dreams may reflect fears or concerns that you are not even aware of on a conscious level, but that may be worrying you on a subconcious level.

 
Quite simply, dreaming is one way that our minds try to work through and resolve potential problems or fears. In interpreting your dreams during pregnancy, however, it's vital to understand that dreams virtually never literally reflect or foretell waking-state reality.

For example, in my 24 years of practice as a midwife, I've discussed dreams with thousands of women. At least 25% of them report having dreamed about giving birth to an animal or non-human creature. During my five pregnancies, I've had vividly realistic dreams of giving birth to puppies, delivering a large rubbery egg, and pushing out a huge hairy shapeless blob. I'm happy to report, not one woman, including myself, has actually given birth to an animal or non-human creature. In other words, don't take your dreams or nightmares too literally!

On the other hand, you shouldn't ignore your dreams, especially those that repeat themselves, assuming that they are meaningless. It's useful to pay attention to your dreams and invest effort in figuring out what your subcouncious mind believes is important enough to pay attention to. If you have repeated dreams about a particular pregnancy/birth/newborn topic, this is a key that you should pay particular attention to this aspect.

One key to interpreting your dreams is to simply make a point to remember them in as much detail as possible. Keep paper and pen beside your bed and try to write down your dream(s) the moment you wake up before you forget them. If you can't write them down because you need to use the bathroom right away, for instance try to replay your dream in your mind until you have the chance to write it down.

Pay particular attention to how you felt about various aspects of your dream. Did you feel afraid? Confused? Helpless?

The true significance of your dreams is based far more on your emotional responses IN YOUR DREAMS than on the subject matter of your dreams.

Then read over what you have written and ask yourself, "Why on earth did I dream this?" Often you will quickly recognize an association with something you have heard, read about, or experienced.

If you were upset or frightened by something in your dream that wouldn't frighten you in waking life, ask yourself why this frightened you in your dream.

Once you figure out what potential problem or situation could have caused your subconscious mind to bring this particular situation up, you can then go ahead and address the problem and, in most cases, ease your mind, literally.

If you repeatedly have upsetting dreams, talk to your midwife or doctors about this.

For instance, if you have repeated nightmares about having a breech delivery or hemorrhaging at delivery, you need to tell your midwife or doctor about this and find out specifically how they would deal with such complications as well as learning if there is anything you can do to prevent such problems.

Above all, remember that having vivid dreams and nightmares is very, very common during pregnancy and that even if you have terrifyingly awful dreams, this doesn't mean that there's something wrong with you, physically or mentally!

The dreams that we have in pregnancy are tainted with the worries and joys of pregnancy and the changing roles of our lives. Hormones don't always help either!

Some women will dream of the sex of their baby or the birth and have it be crystal clear and know that this is how it will be for them. Others have odd dreams, even nightmares.

Dreaming of harm coming to you, a member of your family or the baby is a common theme. As is losing the baby or feeling out of control in a situation with a baby. Many believe that these are just the fears of ourselves as parents coming out in dream form, while others say that they have no meaning. Either way, they can be very disheartening and have no reflection on how you will be as a parent.

Cheating and disappearing spouses, or reappearing ex-lovers can haunt some. What will your husband think of your ever expanding belly? Will he stick around to find out? Or the reverse, you're dreaming of steamy moments with those you find attractive, even the stars of stage and screen.

Maybe work is what's foremost on your mind! Do you say or do silly things at work? Have you had dreams about your boss doing really odd things, like shaving people's forearms? I actually dreamed my boss was marrying my husband, while I stood around pregnant. I did prevail in that dream. My husband didn't laugh and I was brave enough to tell my boss, not sure she thought it was too funny either. I'm trying to stand back and laugh it off...

Sometimes it's hard to laugh off scary dreams or even the realistic birth dreams. Consider sharing them with someone you trust, your spouse, a friend, or someone else who is pregnant! Discussing the fears or revelations behind the dreams is often easier to do and can make you feel much better.

Men have dreams too! Believe it or not, our weird dreams can happen to the men in our lives too. Sometimes their dreams are related to our fears, or theirs. They may revolve around money issues, protection of the family, feeling left out or just about anything. A shoulder to lean on is very important for them as well.

Dreams can become very troublesome when they cause you to lose sleep or have insomnia in any way. There are a few women who will need to seek professional help due to the disturbing nature of the dreams that pregnancy brings on. If you feel like your dreams are causing a problem, you should seek the advice of your practitioner.

My dreams lately have been so disturbing and so vivid. Does this mean something might be wrong with me or the baby?
Not at all. Pregnancy dreams, especially in the last trimester, are often vivid and scary—and this is completely normal. Such dreams may provide a way for your subconscious to deal with any fears and insecurities you no doubt have about pregnancy and impending motherhood. In her book Pregnancy and Childbirth, Tracie Hotchner writes, "Dreams have an important function at this time in your life. Think of them as messages, information about yourself that you have no other way of finding out. Dreams are things to discuss, ideas to recognize." What do they mean?
You may have a panicky dream in which you leave the baby unsupervised, lose her altogether, or fumble some simple task like burping your child—scenarios that may signal you're fearful of the demands of mothering. Dreaming that you're running away, falling from a great height, or trapped in a room may express your concern about losing your freedom. Other common dreams reflect concerns over changes in your looks or in your marriage, what your baby will look like, or whether you're preparing yourself for motherhood properly. What do I do about these dreams?
Listen to them and know that they're normal. They're often easy to interpret—a dream that you can't feed your baby is most likely reflective of your fears that you won't know how to take care of a new baby. Although such dreams can be disturbing, regard them as an opportunity to read the tea leaves of your inner thoughts. Once you examine your fears, you can often confront them openly—either with your spouse or healthcare provider.

Though, pregnant women are usually the ones who dream vividly, you may find your partner is also having memorable dreams about the changes that lie ahead of you both. By using your dreams as a touchstone for discussion, you may find them a useful mirror and tool. You may even get a good laugh out of them.