Hearing stories, reading about or witnessing negative experiences of childbirth.

Previous traumatic events like sexual assault, rape, or a history of child abuse.

A previous traumatic medical experience.

A previous traumatic experience during childbirth.

A history of anxiety, depression and other mood disorders, including PTSD.

Here are some of the causes that may trigger a severe fear of pregnancy and childbirth: For single mothers, there may be the added anxiety of having to cope with everything on your own.’ What triggers tokophobia? If it’s your first baby, there’s a sense of going into the unknown that can feel scary. ‘There may be other factors causing you to feel anxious, like how are you going to cope – financially, emotionally or practically. For example, is the baby developing as it should? What if it suffers damage or some other injury during childbirth? Will the baby be healthy? You may also feel anxious about experiencing difficulties with pregnancy or labour and worry that you might not get the right support and assistance. ‘Typical worries may include anxiety about something happening to the baby. ‘Most women will experience some type of anxiety while they’re pregnant,’ says Dr Rosen.

Is pregnancy anxiety different to tokophobia? This type of tokophobia is a risk factor for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in some women. Flashbacks to a past traumatic experience of childbirth (in women with secondary tokophobia).

Panic attacks – these can include shortness of breath, a dry mouth, sweating, shaking, trembling, nausea, numbness, feeling dizzy, light-headed or faint, chest pains, and disassociation.Intense feelings of dread about childbirth.Excessive anxiety when thinking about or imagining childbirth.Typical symptoms of a fear of childbirth may include: Secondary tokophobia occurs in women who have previously had a traumatic experience of childbirth. Primary tokophobia occurs in women who have never given birth before. ‘Tokophobia causes severe anxiety at the thought of childbirth that usually also impacts a woman’s feelings about pregnancy,’ says Dr Rosen. It’s currently estimated that tokophobia could affect as many as 14% of women worldwide. Tokophobia is a severe fear, or phobia, of childbirth, and for many women this also extends to pregnancy.

If you’re anxious, it’s important to know what help is available so that you can give birth in the best possible way.’ What is tokophobia? For many women, restrictions imposed by the pandemic have added to their fears. ‘But at the more extreme end of the spectrum is tokophobia, a pathological fear of childbirth that causes severe anxiety. ‘This can range from moderate anxiety to severe distress and common reasons include fear of pain, loss of control or that something may happen to the baby,’ says Dr Elisabeth Rosen, medical doctor at Livi who specialises in gynaecology and obstetrics. Studies suggest that around 80% of pregnant women experience worries and fears in relation to childbirth. If you’re planning to have a baby, are pregnant or about to give birth, it’s natural to feel a certain degree of anxiety.

Pathological fear examples