Parturiphobia (phobia Of Childbirth): Symptoms, Causes And Treatment
Parturiphobia or tokophobia is the pathological fear of labor Far from being an isolated experience, parturiphobia is a fairly common phenomenon among women of reproductive age. For this reason, there have been several psychiatric and psychological studies that have addressed it.
Below we explain how parturiphobia is defined, what types exist and how it is usually treated.
Parturiphobia is the pathological fear of childbirth. It is also known as tokophobia, which comes from the Greek “tokos” which means “childbirth.” It has recently been described in terms of pathology, however, it is an experience that has accompanied many women over time.
Parturiphobia has at its core a discomfort caused by the contradiction between the expectation of being biological mothers and the desire not to be one For the same reason, parturiphobia is considered a multidimensional phenomenon that involves both biological, psychological and social factors.
This phobia has had important consequences on the morbidity of pregnant women and also on the development of their children, making it a phenomenon that requires study and work from various areas.
Irrational fear of childbirth: a pioneering study
Psychiatrists Kristina Hofberg and Ian Brockington have been two of the main references in the description of parturiphobia. In 2000, they conducted a qualitative study with 26 women who had an apparently unjustified fear of childbirth.
These authors have defined this phenomenon as the phobic state characterized by a specific anxiety or fear of death during childbirth that precedes pregnancy and which leads to avoiding labor by all possible means, even when the woman intensely wants to have a baby.
The study they carried out was with 26 women between 24 and 41 years of age, who were referred by obstetricians and psychiatrists from different hospitals in England. Some of them were married, others were not, most of the women had children without disabilities.
The women had given birth and had experienced depressive episodes, anxiety disorders or post-traumatic stress disorders. They had been seen by a psychiatrist for approximately two years.
They were interviewed using an unstructured guide focused on knowing the women’s life history related to their sexuality, their obstetric history (which included past pregnancies, the possibility of experiences of abuse, and the use of contraceptive methods).
Through the interviews, the researchers found similarities in the women’s experiences and fear of childbirth. Some reasons that were found behind parturiphobia are the fear of dying during labor, the expectation of pain or unknown suffering, the memory of pain from previous births, among others.
Types of parturiphobia
As part of the results of their study, Kristina Hofberg and Ian Brockington divided the manifestations of parturiphobia into two types: primary tokophobia and secondary tokophobia.
Likewise, they concluded that tokophobia can be considered not as a clinical condition in itself but as one of the symptoms of prenatal depression generally caused by the woman’s belief that she is not capable of going through labor, at least without dying in the attempt.
Primary parturiphobia
Primary tokophobia is when the fear of childbirth begins before pregnancy, even from the period of adolescence. In this case, sexual relations are usually carried out normally, that is, without abuse, and different contraceptive methods are used regularly.
Normally, despite the fear they feel, the pregnancy is planned and carried out, which can aggravate the experience until it becomes a phobia. Women describe motherhood as a reason for being and They have an overwhelming desire to be mothers where the need to avoid pregnancy and childbirth is combined with the demand and expectation of being mothers.
Some of the means by which they have calmed this fear has been through scheduling cesarean sections or pregnancy terminations.
Secondary parturiphobia
Secondary tokophobia is what occurs after a traumatic or significantly stressful experience. That is, it is the phobia that occurs due to having had an unpleasant experience in a previous birth. For example, severe labor pains, perineal tear, birth complications due to fetal distress.
Around these experiences, women have expressed that they thought they or the baby were going to die. Despite this, many women seek another pregnancy, sometimes under the idea that the family is incomplete (for example, to give a brother to someone who is an only child).
In many of these cases, miscarriages have occurred abortions performed for medical needs, induced abortions, or scheduled cesarean sections, which has produced relief for women.
Likewise, several of the women began a sterilization process after giving birth and some women who managed to complete their pregnancy presented symptoms of post-traumatic stress, and even some difficulties in establishing care bonds with their children.
Some approaches
Parturiphobia is currently one of the great fields of psychiatric and psychological research which has resulted in the development of specific psychotherapies that reduce the negative birth experience.
Likewise, the contradictions generated by motherhood (especially biological) as a sometimes overwhelming demand have been addressed from different perspectives of psychology and other social sciences. In any case, it is a topic that has gained relevance in the last two decades and that can generate very important knowledge for women and reproductive activity.
