Why do you have bad dreams during pregnancy? Why do pregnant women have dreams?

Dreams during the period of waiting for a child become much brighter and more intense. It’s good when they are positive and beautiful, but sometimes a pregnant woman begins to dream of disasters, blood, death or loneliness. Naturally, such nightmares can only cause horror and fear for the child and future birth. In such situations, a woman increasingly begins to think about whether everything will be okay with the baby, and should we expect problems during childbirth?

Why do you have such dreams?

Negative dreams in pregnant women are caused by major changes in the woman’s body and preparation for childbirth; it is quite natural that such internal processes of the body have a great impact on the psyche and physiology of the woman. While carrying a baby, a woman rejoices at his upcoming birth, but at the same time understands that for some time she will have to sacrifice something - work, sleep, personal time, hobbies. Regularly thinking about this, the expectant mother loses control over negative emotions at night and as a result they manifest themselves in dreams in the form of horrors and nightmares.

Dreams that a child is born sick or deformed, or is taken away from a woman, are most often a projection of the fears of a pregnant woman who is afraid of not being able to cope with the difficulties ahead. In most cases, pregnant women worry about whether they will make good mothers, whether their baby will be healthy, how he will behave and who he will look like in appearance. It is worth remembering that a mother needs her child emotionally even before birth, so do not pass on your feelings to the baby.

In some cases, a woman may have dreams about fantasy worlds, where a huge stream of water rages, primeval forests with birds, animals and people. Such dreams reflect a picture of the primitive world in a woman’s subconscious. Considering that pregnancy and the birth of a child unites all women on the planet, it is not surprising that pictures from the past can appear in a dream.

The reaction to such dreams is expressed by horror and anxiety, and this is quite logical. Sleeping and seeing how your baby is taken away by strangers, or he gets into a disaster - isn’t this horror? According to experts, “bad dreams” are the main sign of conscious preparation for the birth and raising of a child, as they perfectly relieve a woman of all negative emotions.

In a dream, a pregnant woman manages to experience and get rid of disappointments, anger, aggressive mood and self-doubt - all those emotions that you constantly suppress in yourself during the day and hide from others. That is why psychologists strongly recommend not to worry about the dream you had in the morning, but to try to understand what it is talking about.

What can you dream about?

First trimester. During the first three months of pregnancy, a woman’s body gets used to its new state - as changes occur not only physically, but also in lifestyle. Consequently, one can often dream of situations in which a woman is abandoned by everyone or is dependent on someone. A pregnant woman may find herself in a hostile environment, get into an accident and be seriously injured (we are talking about a dream).

Second trimester. From the middle of the term, the woman begins to rethink her own relationship with her mother. In a dream, there may be a struggle or rivalry with someone, and it does not matter at all what kind of relationship you had with your mother - good or bad. In any case, the fight will take place either openly or in a veiled form - with spiders, monsters and so on.

Third trimester. In recent months, full preparations have been underway for childbirth and raising a child, so dreams are dedicated specifically to the baby or childbirth. Most often, in a dream, a pregnant woman can drown or fall into a rapid stream of water, as this is a projection of childbirth on a subconscious level. A woman will often dream of how she is literally swallowed up by waves, under which labor pains are veiled. However, despite all these terrible and sometimes inexplicable dreams, you should not be afraid, because everything negative will disappear with awakening.

Many pregnant women complain of bad dreams. According to medical experts, this is an absolutely normal and fairly common phenomenon. The main reason for unpleasant dreams lies in the psychological state of the woman. After all, dreams are an expression of our suppressed emotions. Often we do not show our fears, concerns, doubts, and over time we forget them. Restrained feelings and emotions do not disappear without a trace, appearing again in nightmares.

• Dreams usually occur late at night, during rapid eye movement (REM), in which the brain produces short, fast waves.
• In this state, a person begins to visualize the pictures in his mind. They are called dreams. So dreams are simply images, symbols and outbursts of our innermost feelings and experiences.
• While we dream, the brain stem interacts with our memories. Simply put, anxious dreams reflect unpleasant emotions hidden in the subconscious.

Causes of bad dreams during pregnancy

• The main cause of nightmares is a woman’s fears and excessive worries about pregnancy. Such worries are natural, especially for those who are preparing to become mothers for the first time.
• When a woman is pregnant, everyone tries to give her advice regarding every little thing. She reads a lot and strives to learn more about pregnancy and childbirth. Excess information gives rise to chaotic thoughts that provoke unpleasant dreams.
• Many expectant mothers are worried about how well they can take care of their baby, whether the birth will go well, etc.
• Some women are afraid of doing something wrong during pregnancy, so they become overly cautious, which only adds to the stress. Additional tension arises, generating negative thoughts. These factors also lead to bad dreams.
• In addition, frequent visits to doctors for various examinations can also cause unpleasant dreams. This is especially true for women expecting their first child, who are unusual in such circumstances.

How to deal with the problem?

These recommendations will help stop or prevent bad dreams. Sometimes they can be provoked by a certain medicine that a woman takes. In this case, you should consult your doctor, asking him to change the drug if possible.

Remember that bad dreams during pregnancy are a fixable problem, so there is no need to worry. But if you cannot cope with prolonged nervous tension, it is better to consult a specialist. Live calmly, and your nightmares will soon be replaced by pleasant dreams.

Many expectant mothers have nightmares during pregnancy. Because of this, they cannot get enough sleep and get up in the morning tired and irritated. Such a vacation cannot be called complete. Many women, with the help of dream books, immediately try to understand their dreams. They are intensively looking for the cause of such an unpleasant phenomenon. Very often it lies in a psychological state. Why else do you have bad dreams during pregnancy? How can you protect yourself from them?

As mentioned above, among all the reasons why you have bad sleep during pregnancy, one can highlight a psychological state. This is especially true in the first and second trimester.

Nightmares and simply bad dreams during pregnancy are not a pattern. Some women do not encounter them at all. Others have to suffer until the very birth.

In each period of pregnancy, the expectant mother experiences different anxieties and experiences.

1. Having become pregnant, a woman experiences a whole storm of emotions, ranging from boundless joy to fear. One thing is for sure - no one can be indifferent to such news. All this has a strong impact on the emotional state, which, in turn, affects the type of dreams. It is worth noting that the quality of sleep during this period can be affected not only by emotions, but also by the general condition of the body. In the first trimester, many experience severe toxicosis, excessive weakness and other unpleasant symptoms.
2. In the second trimester, the pregnant woman's condition improves significantly. She is already fully aware of her situation. If everything goes well, you may not have nightmares at all. Rare nightmares are often the result of an uncomfortable body position while resting.
3. In the third trimester, almost all women experience bad dreams. It’s easy to explain: they all, to one degree or another, experience fear of the upcoming birth. Expectant mothers dream about things related to hospitals and children. They can see operations, doctors, torture and so on. In addition, sometimes women dream that they saved or, conversely, lost their baby.

The psychological state of a pregnant woman and her fears are just two reasons why she has nightmares. There are other factors too.

According to experts, dreams to some extent reflect the physical condition of a woman. Over time, she develops restrictions in choosing her body position, which brings some inconvenience.

For example, starting from the second trimester, it is not recommended to sleep on your back, since this position disrupts blood circulation.

There are other factors that affect sleep quality.

Bad dreams during pregnancy are not dangerous. In essence, they are the body’s response to a changed physical and emotional state.

If nightmares do not stop during all trimesters of pregnancy, insomnia may develop. A woman is afraid to fall asleep and therefore will feel overwhelmed and tired.

To ensure that a pregnant woman gets proper rest, she must follow a few simple rules.

Eating well during the day will also help you get enough sleep. The menu should be varied. For dinner, it is recommended to cook only light dishes.

If the above measures do not help get rid of nightmares, you need to consult a doctor.

Scary dreams during pregnancy are not a pathology, but only a consequence of changes in the psychological and physical state of the body. The alarm should be sounded only if they do not go away and provoke the appearance of insomnia, depriving the expectant mother of a good night's rest.

” №12/2014 17.08.16

Any unpleasant dream ends with a happy ending - awakening. But why do we wake up in a bad mood after a night of horror and can’t come to our senses for a long time? A pregnant woman's sleep should be calm and happy! No nightmares! Learning to order good dreams.

People who manage to realize during a nightmare that it is a dream prefer to wake up. And it’s completely in vain: it’s hard to imagine a better moment to settle accounts with your fears. The plots of nightmares are amenable to your will, they can be remade into no less fascinating, but quite successful ones, and then nothing will prevent you from sleeping the sleep of a righteous woman. Remember, a pregnant woman's sleep should be sound and calm. But first, about... the benefits of nightmares.

What does science say about nightmares?

Nightmares, psychologists say, are actually not so bad: they help a person cope with the stress they have experienced. A frightening dream performs a protective function: our nerve cells process the unpleasantness, after watching the nightmare, emotional release occurs, and the person subconsciously gets used to the event. Specialists from the Department of Nervous Diseases at Sechenov Moscow Medical University assessed the condition of people who had experienced emotional stress, taking into account whether they subsequently had nightmares. It turned out that those who had nightmares adapted significantly better to stress.

But when unpleasant visions constantly haunt you, dominating other dreams, there is reason to sound the alarm: it means that a psychological problem has arisen that the body cannot cope with. And here our advice will help you.

Sleep during pregnancy: ordering a plot

To master this technique, you need to write down your dreams every day, try to remember them, retain pleasant dreams and prolong interrupted ones, changing an unpleasant plot to a happy one.

You will be surprised, but no matter how sophisticated and surprising your dream may seem to you, it repeats the stories that most people in the world dream about. Find out your nightmare among these examples and try to attach the most joyful ending to it.

A fall. Many people are familiar with this terrible dream: you are flying from a great height and are about to break into pieces. Try to relax, and then, grouped like a cat, land in some interesting place - for example, in a beautiful garden. After you have mastered a successful landing, try converting your fall into flight. In this way, negative feelings can be turned into positive ones.

An exam you can't pass, or performing on a big stage. Each of us is afraid of something, and these hidden fears are often revealed at night. Try to come up with a happy ending to the nightmare. For example, you pass an exam to a merciless professor with flying colors and get an “excellent” grade. Or perform a masterly pas de deux on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater. And to the applause of the enthusiastic audience, you, all so slender and airy, retire backstage with a huge bouquet of roses.

Why do pregnant women have the same dream?

Believe it or not, many pregnant women have the same dreams. There is no mysticism here. Everything has a completely rational explanation. By what frightens you in a dream, you can determine which organ hurts or what problems are latently tormenting you.

For example, this story. An ugly creature sits on your chest - it’s hard and difficult for you to breathe. Either you drown, or you crawl through a narrow hole in a tunnel. Sound familiar? These nightmares may signal shortness of breath, which is common in a pregnant woman in her last trimester. Sleep under a warm blanket, but with the window open. Take yourself for a walk before bed. These measures will improve breathing and nightmares may disappear.

A frequent nightmare - you walk along dirty streets, there are puddles or roads covered with snow everywhere, and you have torn shoes on your feet, socks with holes, or you are completely barefoot. Varicose veins and cramps are a common problem in pregnant women. The body is probably giving you a hint: blood circulation in the legs is impaired.

You dream that you are hiding from someone, your pursuers are about to catch up, you have to run to escape, and you have a completely naked baby in your arms. This is exactly the case when sleep during pregnancy helps you cope with the burden of responsibility that you experience while carefully carrying your unborn baby under your heart. You are acutely experiencing a nightmare - and waking up in the morning should reassure you: this is just a bad dream, everything will be fine with the child. If such thoughts do not help, follow the scheme that we have already proposed: try to go into a store in a dream and buy the necessary things for the baby. Carefully swaddle your baby and hold him close to your chest. Tell your dream to your husband or girlfriend or write it down on paper or on the computer. After such actions, if a nightmare haunts you, it will be easier to order a happy ending to events for your next viewing.

Pregnant Sleep: 4 Healthy Habits

Somnologists, as sleep specialists are called, know how to make dreams sweet and pleasant. Pregnant women should listen to their recommendations especially carefully.

1. Follow your usual rituals.

One of the worst and most common mistakes is going to bed at a different time every day. Our body is a real slave of its habits. It is important for a pregnant woman not to get out of her own rhythm and go to bed at the same time.

Come up with small rituals that you can perform every evening without stress, almost without thinking, as if on “autopilot.” They have a relaxing effect on the body - like a sleeping pill.

Walk for half an hour before going to bed. Take a warm bath. To make the water lull you to sleep more quickly, add an infusion of linden or lavender to it. Remove makeup with calm, gentle movements. Stand in front of a mirror and apply cream to your face, rubbing it in with massage movements. Spend at least three minutes brushing your teeth.

Do you remember how you brought your favorite bear with you into your crib, without which you simply could not sleep? He helped the child plunge into the world of dreams without fear. In fact, an adult needs such a talisman as well. Any familiar thing will do. For example, a favorite nightgown, a thought, stuffed with hop cones that induce sleep. Make it a habit to listen to relaxing music at night.

2. Don’t watch TV at night, don’t spend the evenings on social networks on your computer, tablet, or phone.

There should not be a TV in the bedroom. Get carried away by the movie and fall asleep in a terribly uncomfortable position long after midnight. And if the last thing you watched was a psychologically difficult film, then a pregnant woman’s sleep will definitely be full of nightmares.

Nothing causes difficult dreams and “turns on” the body like working in front of a monitor. So a laptop and gadgets have no place in bed. Two hours on the Internet before bed – count the same number of hours or a bad dream.

By the way, everything is prohibited in bed except sleep and... You can’t work in it (the bed should be associated with relaxation, not tension); have dinner (then the sheets are covered in crumbs). Mom can make an exception for reading a good book or a useful magazine - for 20-30 minutes.

And before going to bed, change your pillow - it’s worse to sleep on a heated one. There is even such a funny trick - put a pillow stuffed in a plastic bag in the freezer for a few minutes. Dreams are the sweetest on a cool headboard.

3. Before going to bed, try by any means possible to avoid exchanging barbs with friends and family.

Put off the quarrel until the morning - you will fall asleep with a clear conscience, you will not have nightmares, and with dawn, you see, the reason for the conflict will disappear.

4. Automotive training, yoga, meditation - an ideal pastime before bed.

It is very useful for a pregnant woman to immerse herself in her “I” for the coming sleep. If you do not have the appropriate techniques, try the simplest option. For example, before you go to bed, sit comfortably in a chair, close your eyes and concentrate on your breathing. Then slowly, slowly try to imagine your muscles relaxing, one by one, starting from your feet and moving up to your head. After such practice, it is unlikely that you will see horror films.

A good way to get rid of any nightmare is to draw it with paints, colored pencils or felt-tip pens, with details, using all the power of your imagination. And then tear up the drawing and throw it away.

Expecting a child is an extraordinary miracle, true and exciting happiness for future parents.

However, this blissful period of the birth of a new life is disturbed by the poor and restless sleep of the expectant mother. It is necessary to establish the causes of poor sleep.

Depending on this, you should definitely follow certain procedures and take medicine to restore healthy sleep. Insomnia and lack of sleep leads to rapid fatigue and nervousness, and most importantly, to a sharp decrease in the body's immunity.

In the first 2-3 months of pregnancy, bad dreams are quite rare. Women, on the contrary, feel depressed and drowsy. This occurs due to an increase in the level of the hormone progesterone.

Often there is a desire to sleep during the day. If it is possible to get a good night's sleep during the day, then this should be done. Sleep disturbances during the next three months may be caused by emotionally charged and disturbing dreams.

The fact is that women during pregnancy are characterized by a rapid phase of sleep. This means that the brain is still actively functioning. Worries about future births, visits to doctors, and test results put a lot of stress on the nervous system.

This whole complex of experiences and disorders does not in any way contribute to sound sleep and causes disturbing dreams. In the final three months of pregnancy, poor sleep is caused by a number of physiological reasons.

Due to the greatly enlarged uterus, the lungs and bladder of the female body experience uneven pressure, which leads to difficulty breathing and frequent urge to go to the toilet. Pain may occur in the lumbar region of the back. The calf muscles sometimes experience very painful cramps. It is difficult for an expectant mother to find a convenient and comfortable sleeping position due to her enlarged belly. And of course, for a good sleep you need a good and soft mattress.

You cannot sleep on your stomach, as the baby will be subjected to strong pressure. It is not recommended to sleep on your back, as the female internal organs will experience pressure. This will, in turn, cause poor circulation.

Despite poor sleep, you should never take sleeping pills. You can only drink tinctures of valerian and motherwort. It is recommended to brew teas from mint, lemon balm, licorice, and thyme. Daytime sleep should be limited to two hours. Every day you need to walk in the fresh air for several hours, if possible, visit a pine forest.

It is also necessary to perform gymnastic exercises designed specifically for pregnant women. You can't do heavy housework, especially before bed. At night it is useful to drink chamomile tea or milk with honey.

The ideal sleeping position is on your side. If you place a small pillow under your stomach, it will be very comfortable. Without a doubt, the expectant mother must read a prayer before going to bed. All these simple, time-tested tips will help women find healthy, sound, deep sleep while expecting a baby.