The research on dreams isn’t concrete, but psychologists theorize that pregnancy dreams are likely related to your subconscious thoughts, as opposed to sleep-induced predictions.

Dreams have long been debated and interpreted for their underlying, psychological meanings. This is also true for specific dreams, such as those about being pregnant.

Dreaming itself is a type of hallucination that occurs during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Dreams tend to be linked more to your emotional thoughts, rather than logic — this could explain why you may have woken up from “strange” dreams, on occasion.

While dreams about being pregnant can be interpreted in different ways, there’s yet to be any proof that any specific dream is rooted in reality. Much of the dreams that can “come true” about being pregnant have more to do with your subconscious than anything else.

Curious about what dreams about being pregnant could mean? Below are some of the most common pregnancy-related dream scenarios — and what they might mean.

One theory behind dreams about being pregnant is that the dreamer themself is pregnant. You might wake up from this type of dream either imagining your life during pregnancy, or even with feelings as if you’re pregnant, such as a fuller belly or morning sickness.

Whatever the exact meaning, pregnancy is likely on your mind in some way for this type of dream to occur.

Dreaming about pregnancy may even go beyond yourself. It’s possible to have dreams that someone else is pregnant, whether it’s your partner, a friend, or a family member.

Rather than a random dream, this type of dream content is more likely attributed to knowledge about you or another couple who may be trying to get pregnant.

There’s also talk about dreams where someone else tells you that they’re pregnant. Perhaps you are a parent of an adult child thinking about becoming a grandparent. Or, perhaps you have friends or other loved ones who have expressed their desires to have children.

Such interactions and thoughts that occur during your wakeful hours can enter your subconscious emotions. That may work its way into your dreams.

Another common pregnancy dream is one where a couple is pregnant with twins. Having such a dream doesn’t mean you will be pregnant with twins, but rather you are subconsciously considering the possibility of this scenario. Another explanation is that twins run in your (or your partner’s) family or that you have a friend with twins.

The bottom line is that it’s impossible to have twins simply because you’ve been dreaming about them.

While the above scenarios involved planned pregnancies, it’s also possible to have a dream about an unplanned pregnancy. The probable explanation for this type of dream is underlying anxiety you might be experiencing due to the possibility of getting pregnant unintentionally.

However, just like the other pregnancy-related dreams, simply dreaming about an unplanned pregnancy doesn’t mean it will come true.

Not all dreams about pregnancy are necessarily “dreamy,” and this is perfectly normal. Anxiety-related dreams could be attributed to fears about being pregnant, or perhaps you are already pregnant and are experiencing some underlying worries.

A likely source of this anxiety is related to hormone fluctuations, which are more prominent during pregnancy, but can also occur throughout the month in non-pregnant women.

It’s difficult to root pregnancy dreams as factual, as the research behind them is minimal. However, here are some facts about dreams that we currently do know:

  • The more you sleep, the more dreams you’re likely to have. This includes daytime naps.
  • If you are pregnant, you could be dreaming more due to increased sleep time from pregnancy-related fatigue.
  • An old study from 1993 also showed that the further along you are in your pregnancy, the more prominent your dreams may become.
  • Dreams can become opportunities for creativity. A 2005 study showed that dreamers may remember a newly formed idea in their sleep that logic would have otherwise prevented them from thinking up during hours of wakefulness.
  • An occasional nightmare is normal, but frequent nightmares could indicate a sleep disorder that might be related to your mental health. These ought to be addressed with a professional.
  • It’s more common to not remember your dreams at all than to vividly remember what you dreamed about the night before.

While dreams can sometimes seem very real, dreams about specific scenarios such as pregnancy rarely come true. The research on dreams isn’t concrete, but psychologists theorize that these scenario-specific types of dreams have much more to do with your subconscious thoughts than they do with any type of sleep-induced fortune telling.

If you continue to have pregnancy dreams that you find bothersome, or if you’re having sleep disturbances, consider seeing a therapist to work through them. This could be a sign that you need to talk to someone to work through deep emotional thoughts.