Dreaming about abortion or miscarriage: what it usually reflects

What this dream usually points to (and what it does not)

Dream interpretation is not prediction and not diagnosis. This article separates what sleep research observes from what popular interpretation associates with the theme, always saying which is which.

Dreaming about a miscarriage or an abortion does not predict the loss of a pregnancy, and it is not a punishment. The dream tends to appear in phases of anxiety, of a hard decision or of a project that "did not take", and it can show up even in people who have never been pregnant. In people who are pregnant or who have already been through a loss, it tends to reflect real fears, and it is quite common.

The emotion when you wake up (relief, guilt, sadness, emptiness) says more than the scene. If the dream stirred up something real and painful, it deserves to be treated with care, and not as a riddle to be solved.

Read also: Dreaming about a baby or pregnancy and Dreaming about giving birth.

Why this dream shows up

Research shows that stressful events, such as a pregnancy loss, can change both sleep and the content of dreams. In a qualitative study with women who were pregnant again after a previous loss, dreams were a source of sleep disturbance, and the researchers identified four categories of dreams. The authors recommend that health teams offer these women support during prenatal care.

In another study, with 37 women who had experienced a perinatal loss, features of their dreams were related to measures of trauma and grief, and the authors discuss the role dreams may play in recovering from grief. In short: the dream usually follows what the person is living through and feeling, and it does not announce what is coming.

Sources: Van, Cage and Shannon, Holistic Nursing Practice, 2004; Kroth and colleagues, Psychological Reports, 2004; Schredl and Hofmann, Continuity between waking activities and dream activities, Consciousness and Cognition, 2003.

Versions of this dream and what usually comes with them

See also: Dreaming about giving birth and Dreaming about a hospital.

When this dream calls for attention

If you have been through a pregnancy loss and the dreams bring intense suffering, fear of going to sleep or memories that give you no rest, talk to your doctor, a psychologist or a health service: grief over a pregnancy loss is real and deserves support. If the distress feels heavy, do not carry it alone. In the US, you can call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline), free, 24 hours a day.

During pregnancy, tell your obstetrician or prenatal team about the dreams that frighten you; it is a common subject and they know how to help. And if the dream keeps coming back and turns into a frequent nightmare, there is treatment, as explained in nightmares: why they happen and how to have fewer.

Source: Morgenthaler and colleagues, Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2018.

Science and belief: Freud, Jung and tradition

In Freud's psychoanalysis. In The Interpretation of Dreams, Freud tells how a friend's wife dreamed she was having her period precisely when it was late, which he read as a discreet way of announcing her first pregnancy. The example shows how the body and the stage of life find their way into the dream, something current research also observes. Freud does not turn this into a rule for dreams about losing a pregnancy.

In Jung's psychology. In Man and His Symbols, initiation rites stage a symbolic death followed by rebirth: identity is temporarily dissolved and then starts over. In the Jungian tradition, birth, loss and new beginnings in dreams are usually read as images of inner processes of transformation, and not as facts about the body.

Bringing both readings together. Science says the dream follows what we live through and feel, especially in phases of stress and grief. The symbolic reading invites you to ask what, in your life, is beginning, ending or being put off. Neither of them treats the dream as a verdict.

Sources: Freud, Die Traumdeutung, 1900; Jung (ed.), Man and His Symbols.

What dream books say

In O Livro dos Sonhos, a Brazilian dream book, L. P. Baçan associates dreaming about an abortion with bad luck in life and disappointment in love: gloomy traditional readings that should not be taken as a warning. Freud described dream books as a kind of dictionary that translates each image into another one with a fixed meaning. Artemidorus of Daldis, author of the oldest complete Greek dream book that has survived, recommended looking at the dreamer's life before interpreting anything. If you see the dream as a message, both paths suggest the same thing: ask what this image reminds you of at this moment in your life. See what dream meanings look like according to science and culture.

Sources: L. P. Baçan, O Livro dos Sonhos, 2014; Freud, Die Traumdeutung, 1900.

Folk beliefs about this dream

In folk reading, dreaming about a miscarriage or an abortion is associated with frustrated plans, a lost opportunity or guilt kept inside. In some religious traditions, the theme carries moral judgments, which have no scientific basis and should not weigh on the person who had the dream. These are cultural interpretations, without scientific proof.

Read also: dreaming about blood; dreaming about death; nightmares.

To understand how to approach any dream, there is a broader guide. See what dream meanings look like according to science and culture.