Tokophobia: An unreasoning dread of childbirth

Abstract

BackgroundSome women dread and avoid childbirth despite desperately wanting a baby. This is called tokophobia.AimsTo classify tokophobia for the first time in the medical literature.MethodTwenty-six women noted to have an unreasoning dread of childbirth were interviewed by the same psychiatrist, who was not the treating doctor. A qualitative analysis of these psychiatric interviews was performed.ResultsPhobic avoidance of pregnancy may date from adolescence (primary tokophobia), be secondary to atraumatic delivery (secondary tokophobia) or be a symptom of prenatal depression (tokophobia as a symptom of depression). Pregnant women with tokophobia who were refused their choice of delivery method suffered higher rates of psychological morbidity than those who achieved their desired delivery method.ConclusionsTokophobia is a specific and harrowing condition that needs acknowledging. Close liaison between the obstetrician and the psychiatrist in order to assess the balance between surgical and psychiatric morbidity is imperative with tokophobia.