mom giving birth?

**meowll** · 03-07-2014 08:49 PM

Hello, I had a strange dream last night and I'm having a hard time interpreting it. I was in a hospital and my mother was about to give birth, but the doctor- who was 'played' by our village veterinary in this dream- wasn't appearing, and for some reason she could only give birth with his help, otherwise she would die. She had been sedated previously and was slowly losing strenght. I was starting to get desperate and went searching for him. He was in his office, not bothered. When I told him about the situation, he just smiled and said something along the lines of `you have to show yourself to me,' but my dream self somehow understood that I had to sleep with him and all of his colleagues and refused vehemently. I called my dad and he was unfazed, he just told me on a careless tone that I should go through it to save mom. By that time she was almost dead and I didn't know what to do, I was desperate, but I didn't even consider going through with the doctor's offer. (At a point, I saw that on a wall in his office, there were written prices for different services, and they all implied some sort of sexual gratification). I went to a higher floor in a place that was home, but didn't look like real-life home, and tried to channel energy/ pray for mom. I don't think it worked, but at some point it was revealed that the doctor was actually mom's brother and he eventually saved her because of this.

My mom's always isolated herself; her life resumes to taking care of family and working and that's all, but recently she's started being interested in other things too and I'm thinking that birth could mean this new initiative. But dying?

We're on really good terms. I moved away from home this year for college, though, and maybe the dream expresses my fear of distancing myself from her? And also the level at which I'm self-centered; I didn't even think to sacrifice myself for her sake. My dad is the opposite of careless.

I'd really appreciate some ideas on this :3

**JoannaB** · 03-07-2014 10:23 PM

Birth and death, the cycle of life which we are all in, including your mother and you. I think this dream is about your and your mother's lives.

Yes, your mom's new interest could be part of this birth. However, another part of it is a reminder that she is the one who have birth to you, and potentially risked her life for you - some women do die in childbirth. So I think what this dream is asking is in part, how much do you owe her in return, how much is she your responsibility. While we we were kids our parents took care of us, and the direction of responsibility was clear: parent responsible for child. As we grow up, the relationship becomes more complicated in some ways because at times it is not clear how much we are responsible for our parents, how much do we owe them, and how much should we sacrifice for them if needed. Dreams exaggerate, so your dream took this all the way, and put you in the awkward position of needing to choose whether you would do a terrible self sacrifice to save your mother's life. This is an extreme. The waking life problem may be that you are feeling a bit guilty over moving away for college and no longer being there for your mom. The nagging question in the back of your mid may be whether you should be more available for her because you owe her your life and she sounds like someone who really needs family.

My take on this is that your responsibility right now is to become more independent, to persue your studies, your career goals, maybe even start your own family. Yes, of course you have responsibilities toward your mother and you love her and thus are not going to just abandon her, but at this stage of your life you do need to concentrate on yourself, and that is not being self-centered and selfish but is part of growing up, and I am sure your mother understands that.

Edit: another thought that occurred to me: this dream could also be about the potential of you as a mother in the future. Note that you need to have sex for the birth in your dream to take place. So in this interpretation the dream is not about your mother really (your mother is just there to stand for "motherhood"), but it would be about you as a mother. This dream could then be about your fear of what it would mean to become a mother. Would that mean a death of sort? Perhaps symbolizing a death of your career goals if you think that your choice is a career life versus a life that is more family oriented? Or it could be the realization that becoming a parent will change you, you will no longer be the same person as before the child, which may be symbolically portrayed as a death of sort, a death of parts of your personality replaced by motherhood instincts.

Please keep in mind that there may be more than one correct interpretation, so it is not necessarily one or the other. However, if neither of those sounds right to you, feel free to disregard of course, and hopefully you will find another.

**meowll** · 03-15-2014 06:14 PM

Thank you!! Both of your explanations seem plausible, though I identify more with the first one. My decision in the dream was a dramatic one, maybe this is my subconscious expressing itself, since in real life I haven't regarded this transition to college life as a rupture of sorts, but as a natural change. Perhaps parts of me have remained unexpressed regarding this matter, and they showed up in the dream. I have been keeping in touch with her more lately, thanks to this dream and to your help

(it also occurred to me that my dad's indifference was just a metaphor for the physical distance between him and mom, since he found work in a different city)

I also thought it was an interesting thing that both me and my mother had roles that were related to birth in the dream, maybe it's some sort of continuity. I had to have sex for the birth to happen- it hadn't been quite clear to me before, but your interpretation helped: maybe the dream really is about me and the way sexuality is related to creativity and birth (not just literally, but perhaps a rebirth of the self, too?), and it's an aspect that my life lacks. And my mom's involvement could signify the social pressure and my parents' expectations to marry and start a family sometime even though I don't wish to.

Thank you, you've really helped me figure this one out! Or at least try to :3