Abortion glossary :: Tokophobia
Tokophobia is a severe pathological fear of pregnancy and/or childbirth. Pregnant people who are tokophobic are prone to experience severe panic, and may go to great lengths to avoid conception or seek elective medical interventions (such as a cesarean-section procedure) to put their concerns at ease (at least somewhat).
Three main categories of tokophobia are:
- Primary Tokophobia: An intense fear of childbirth before pregnancy.
- Secondary Tokophobia: A fear that has roots in a traumatic experience, which may vary in severity (e.g., difficulties during labour to a foetus that miscarries or was stillborn).
- Tertiary Tokophobia: An irrational fear that was derived from unverified experiences of others, or other sources such as incorrectly-informed news reports, convincing-looking birthing disasters in movies, etc.
Negative or even self-harm-inducing feelings that are known to be associated with tokophobia can severely impact mental health and damage interpersonal relationships. People who are tokophobic likely need Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), often with at least some focus on trauma, which can be provided by a properly-qualified psychotherapist, professionaly-certified midwife, or obstetrician who specializes in perinatal mental health.
See also