Fears about childbirth are common and many people will feel anxious or afraid about giving birth. Pregnancy and childbirth are major life events and its important to not be hard on yourself if you are experiencing fear around childbirth.
We hear lots of people describe their birth experiences in lots of different ways. Sometimes these are positive and reassuring and other times can create fear. For some women and birthing people, the fear may be greater and affect daily functioning and or wanting to go through with the pregnancy. This fear or phobia is called tokophobia.
- Primary Tokophobia is a fear/phobia of childbirth in people who have not given birth before. It is usually longstanding and often a fear since childhood.
- Secondary tokophobia is a fear/phobia of childbirth when there has been a previous childbirth which was experienced as traumatic.
Silver Birch Hubs (Cheshire and Mersey Maternal Mental Health Service) have support and interventions to support women and birthing people in the region experiencing tokophobia.
Useful resources and links
