I dreamed that both of my daughters (16 and 18) were pregnant. My 16-year-old went into labor at home, and I delivered her baby. The baby was talking and saying she couldn’t see. Nobody would take care of the baby -- I was the only one that would feed her (it was a girl), and I was afraid the baby would die when I left for work.

Background information: I am having a lot of problems with my 16-year-old daughter. She is skipping school, smoking, and running away.

—Kelly, 38, female, married, Washougal, WA

Hi Kelly—

A mother’s job never ends, does it?

Babies in dreams often symbolize change and periods of growth in our lives. If we start a new job, for example, we might soon dream of finding a “baby in our briefcase.” If we dream of ourselves giving birth (long after our childbearing years have passed), it often is an indicator that we feel we have completed one phase of our lives, and are beginning another. “Giving birth” dreams are especially common following transitions in our lives -- say, starting a business after the kids have left home, or choosing to rebuild our lives in the wake of a divorce.

Your dream about your daughter, however, most likely reflects literal concerns as well as symbolic. While she is 16 years old and “giving birth” to an independent new personality, you -- like any parent -- worry about her decision-making. Not only would an unplanned pregnancy place a burden upon your own lifestyle (your daughter is too young to care for a baby by herself), your dream suggests that your daughter, for all her “adult” appearances, still is quite young. Is it mere coincidence that the “baby” in the dream is female, and that she is able to speak, but cannot see? What is the metaphor? Your “baby girl” is naïve, and blind to the consequences of some of her actions.

The message of this dream is clear. It’s time for the safe sex talk. Your daughter is becoming a young woman, and she needs to enter into romantic relationships with both eyes open. Speak with her about the realities of becoming pregnant: dropping out of school, working full-time to help support the baby and, most likely, raising the child as a single teen parent. It’s a tough road. So tough, in fact, that all teens deserve credit for being mature enough to talk about it, and to have as much help from their parents as possible to make informed, responsible decisions.