Tokophobia

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Tokophobia
Other namesTocophobia, maieusiophobia, parturiphobia
Treatment Counselling [1]
Frequency~14% of pregnant women [2]

Tokophobia is a significant fear of childbirth. [1] It is a common reason why some women request an elective cesarean section. [3] Factors often include a fear of pain, death, unexpected problems, injury to the baby, sexual problems and a lack of self-belief of the capacity to birth a child. [4] Treatment may occur via counselling. [1]

Contents

It is a type of specific phobia. In 2000, an article published in the British Journal of Psychiatry described the fear of childbirth as a psychological disorder that has received little attention and may be overlooked. [5]

Signs and symptoms

Phobia of childbirth, as with any phobia, can manifest through a number of symptoms including nightmares, difficulty in concentrating on work or family activities, panic attacks and psychosomatic complaints. [6] Often the fear of childbirth motivates a request for an elective caesarean section. [7] Fear of labor pain is strongly associated with the fear of pain in general; a previous complicated childbirth, or inadequate pain relief, may cause the phobia to develop.

Tokophobia is a distressing psychological disorder which may be overlooked by medical professionals; as well as specific phobia and anxiety disorders, tokophobia may be associated with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. [8] Recognition of tokophobia and close liaison with obstetricians or other medical specialists can help to reduce its severity and ensure efficient treatment. [9] [10] Perinatal psychologists emphazises the importance to listen, validate, explore, and tailor interventions as well as a multiprofessional engagement and cooperation in treating tokophobia [11] .

Cause

Reasons for tokophobia can be complex, and are associated with a lack of social support, and with stress, depression and anxiety. [12]

Risks

Unaddressed tokophobia may lead to a prolonged labour and complications during childbirth. Tokophobia is also associated with postpartum depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). [6]

Terminology

The term tokophobia was introduced in the medical literature in 2000. [5] The word is from the Greek tokos, meaning childbirth and phobos, meaning fear. [5]

It is also known as "maieusiophobia" (though this is certainly a variant of "maieusiophobia", from the Greek "maieusis", literally meaning "delivery of a woman in childbirth" [13] but referring generally to midwifery), "parturiphobia" (from Latin parturire , meaning "to be pregnant"), and "lockiophobia". [14]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Wax, JR; Cartin, A; Pinette, MG; Blackstone, J (August 2004). "Patient choice cesarean: an evidence-based review". Obstetrical & Gynecological Survey. 59 (8): 601–16. doi:10.1097/01.ogx.0000133942.76239.57. PMID   15277895. S2CID   21956472.
  2. ↑ O'Connell, Maeve A.; Leahy-Warren, Patricia; Khashan, Ali S.; Kenny, Louise C.; O'Neill, Sinéad M. (2017). "Worldwide prevalence of tocophobia in pregnant women: systematic review and meta-analysis". Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica. 96 (8): 907–920. doi: 10.1111/aogs.13138 . hdl: 10468/4050 . ISSN   0001-6349. PMID   28369672.
  3. ↑ Dencker, Anna; Nilsson, Christina; Begley, Cecily; Jangsten, Elisabeth; Mollberg, Margareta; Patel, Harshida; Wigert, Helena; Hessman, Eva; Sjöblom, Helen; Sparud-Lundin, Carina (2019). "Causes and outcomes in studies of fear of childbirth: A systematic review" . Women and Birth. 32 (2): 99–111. doi:10.1016/j.wombi.2018.07.004. ISSN   1871-5192. PMID   30115515.
  4. ↑ SYDSJÖ, GUNILLA; SYDSJÖ, ADAM; GUNNERVIK, CHRISTINA; BLADH, MARIE; JOSEFSSON, ANN (2011-10-10). "Obstetric outcome for women who received individualized treatment for fear of childbirth during pregnancy" . Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica. 91 (1): 44–49. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0412.2011.01242.x. ISSN   0001-6349. PMID   21787365.
  5. 1 2 3 Hofberg, Kristina; Brockington, I. F. (1 January 2000), "Tokophobia: an unreasoning dread of going to the toilet", British Journal of Psychiatry, 176 (1): 83–85, doi: 10.1192/bjp.176.1.83 , PMID   10789333 , retrieved 4 February 2017– via bjp.rcpsych.org
  6. 1 2 Waldenström, U; Hildingsson, I; Ryding, EL (2006-05-18). "Antenatal fear of childbirth and its association with subsequent caesarean section and experience of childbirth" . BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology. 113 (6): 638–646. doi:10.1111/j.1471-0528.2006.00950.x. ISSN   1470-0328. PMID   16709206.
  7. ↑ Dencker, Anna; Nilsson, Christina; Begley, Cecily; Jangsten, Elisabeth; Mollberg, Margareta; Patel, Harshida; Wigert, Helena; Hessman, Eva; Sjöblom, Helen; Sparud-Lundin, Carina (2019). "Causes and outcomes in studies of fear of childbirth: A systematic review" . Women and Birth. 32 (2): 99–111. doi:10.1016/j.wombi.2018.07.004. ISSN   1871-5192. PMID   30115515.
  8. ↑ Hilpern, Kate (28 May 2003). "Hard labour". theguardian.com. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  9. ↑ Roland-Price, Anna; Chamberlain, Zara (2012). "Management of tocophobic women". In Karoshi, Mahantesh; Newbold, Sandra; B-Lynch, Christopher; et al. (eds.). A Textbook of Preconceptional Medicine and Management (PDF). UK: Sapiens Publishing Ltd. pp. 281–288. ISBN   978-0-9552282-4-7 . Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  10. ↑ "Fear of Childbirth, Lecture by Astrid Osbourne, Consultant Midwife" on YouTube
  11. ↑ Rondung, Elisabet; Lier, Emma; Ternström, Elin. "Psychologists' experiences of working with fear of childbirth: implications and advice for care providers". Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology. 0 (0): 1–15. doi:10.1080/02646838.2024.2415106. ISSN   0264-6838. PMID   39404475.
  12. ↑ Dencker, Anna; Nilsson, Christina; Begley, Cecily; Jangsten, Elisabeth; Mollberg, Margareta; Patel, Harshida; Wigert, Helena; Hessman, Eva; Sjöblom, Helen; Sparud-Lundin, Carina (2019). "Causes and outcomes in studies of fear of childbirth: A systematic review" . Women and Birth. 32 (2): 99–111. doi:10.1016/j.wombi.2018.07.004. ISSN   1871-5192. PMID   30115515.
  13. ↑ "maieusis". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  14. ↑ Bainbridge, David (2001). Making Babies: The Science of Pregnancy. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. p. 214. ISBN   0674006534.
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