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Tokophobia is the fear of childbirth and the fear of pregnancy (the natural result of which is childbirth). Tokophobia is often the reason why a woman chooses to give birth by Caesarean section or not to be a mother at all. Tokophobia occurs in about 10 percent of people. women, while among pregnant women this problem affects about 6-10 percent. future moms. Tokophobia is classified as a specific phobia, i.e. one in which the fear is caused by a specific factor or situation.
Types of tocophobia
Tokophobia may be primary or secondary. In the first case, it is usually neurotic and concerns women who have never given birth before. Tokophobia secondary is the problem of women who have already given birth but have unpleasant experiences of giving birth or of the pregnancy itself (for example, there was a miscarriage.
Direct cause tokophobia (and at the same time its basic symptom) is a strong, even panic fear of pregnancy and childbirth. Word tokophobia it has root in Greek, where tokos means childbirth and phobia means fear.
The causes of tocophobia
The causes of tocophobia are complex. In case of tokophobia primary (fear of childbirth occurs in a woman who has never been pregnant or has never given birth) it may be a result of traumatic experiences, for example being a victim of sexual abuse or rape, a traumatic course of a previous pregnancy (miscarriage or abortion), and, for example, death of the patient’s mother during childbirth.
In some women tokophobia it develops as a result of listening to the dramatic memories of other women, including one’s mother, in the delivery room. Then there is an association of unpleasant sensations with a situation that you have not experienced yet, but which you begin to avoid.
Cause tokophobia secondary is the fear of a repetition of the delivery situation, during which the patient experienced severe pain and discomfort. Tokophobia secondary is common in those women who develop postnatal depression.
Symptoms of tokophobia
Primary symptom of tocophobia there is a very strong fear of pregnancy and childbirth. In some cases, it is so large that a woman avoids sexual contact, does not trust 100% of any method of contraception, or uses several methods of protection against unwanted pregnancies at the same time. In the event of pregnancy, patients with tokophobia they choose to deliver by caesarean section, even if there are no indications for it.
If conception occurs, patient with tokophobia experiences severe psychological discomfort throughout the pregnancy. Her anxiety manifests itself with nightmares, recurring thoughts about the dangers of pregnancy and childbirth, anxiety, irritability, panic attacks, somatic complaints (for example palpitations, abdominal and headaches, shortness of breath) and impaired concentration. Woman with tokophobia she is terrified of childbirth – not only the pain associated with it, but also that something will go wrong during it, resulting in an impairment to her health or even death. She imagines possible scenarios and dies out of fear at the very thought of the birth action ahead of her. A caesarean section seems to be the only reasonable solution to her – it is performed under general anesthesia and the whole thing happens somewhat outside of the patient’s awareness. Some women with tokophobia They are convinced that such a procedure is safer for her and the child, because they are supervised by a whole team of medical personnel.
Methods of dealing with tocophobia
Tokophobia is treated pharmacologically and with the help of psychotherapy. Pharmacological treatment is used in cases where anxiety is very strong and prevents the patient from functioning normally, thus endangering herself and her pregnancy. Drugs are also given to women who had psychological problems, such as depression, before pregnancy. In lighter cases tokophobia psychotherapy is used, most often cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy. A pregnant woman is confronted with facts and statistics, which say that complications during pregnancy and childbirth are relatively rare. She is also informed about what they are benefits of childbirth forces of nature and what defects has a solution by caesarean section. It is important that the woman has the support of an experienced physician or experienced midwife during pregnancy. They can explain to the patient all the issues that bother her and provide the patient with reliable, real knowledge about pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium. Man is usually afraid of the unknown. Knowledge about pregnancy and childbirth is fully in the case of tokophobia therapeutic function.