Dream analysis: 'I told nobody about the pregnancy and secretly gave birth'

Psychoanalyst Michael Murphy examines the deeper meaning of your dreams

Picture: iStock 

I once dreamt that I was pregnant but I didn't show any signs of it. I told nobody about the pregnancy and secretly gave birth. I made sure no one knew or would find out. I don't know what happened to the baby, but I called him Oliver. There's no one in my life with this name and I don't have a desire to have children at all. In fact, I don't even like children very much.

Having a child is one of the most creative functions a woman can accomplish. In this particular case, the dreamer says she has no desire to have children, so this dream is referring more to her creativity. The drama shows how she was able to keep this creative part of herself secret, concealed and private. 

To hide a pregnancy and birth suggests a fear of possible scrutiny and judgement. I wonder what experience caused this woman to deny herself in such trenchant terms: 'I made sure no one knew or would find out'. Who is she afraid of?

The dreamer called the baby Oliver. References handed down from the early 17th century describe Oliver Cromwell as the baddie, while Oliver Plunkett is the saint. So the name is ambiguous.

The dreamer gave birth to the masculine, which balances and grounds her feminine. The dream is a warning that if she continues to indulge her fears around keeping her creative talents a secret and hiding the masculine side of her personality, she risks a stillbirth: 'I don’t know what happened to the baby…'

I've had a recurring version of this dream since the start of the first lockdown. I'm with my wife and young son on a beach. It's a beautiful day and they decide to go for a swim while I watch from the shore. Out of nowhere a tidal wave crashes down on them. I rush into the water but cannot save them. I'm panic stricken.

This is a Covid dream which is recurring 'since the start of the first lockdown'. A dream recurs when it’s message hasn’t been understood. The bottom-line in the dream is that this father is unable to save his family from the tidal wave of the pandemic which comes 'out of nowhere'. As a result, the dreamer says he’s 'panic stricken'. The word 'panic' derives from the Greek god Pan, said to cause an emotion of unreasoning fear, and, like the virus, it’s contagious. 

The dream demonstrates the high levels of anxiety from which this man is suffering. These hit off his protective function as father, which fails in the face of something unforeseen – a force of nature -  and is outside of his ability to control. 

We are not lords of the universe, and we have to recognise our position as being in partnership with nature. 

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