Tokophobia: a fear of childbirth and pregnancy - an overview

Tokophobia is a mental disorder that affects women of all ages and varies from a mild to severe dread of delivery. Knauer first reported in the literature in 1897 that between 20% to 78% of pregnant women experience dread connected to pregnancy and delivery. The International Journal of Reproduction, Contraception, Obstetrics and Gynaecology published a study that found that the prevalence of tokophobia was 30.7% on Levin's scale and 55.3% on Areskog's score. Tokophobia is a multifaceted fear of labor that can be further classified into primary tokophobia and secondary tokophobia. People who have tokophobia may have extreme anxiety that manifests as nightmares, insomnia, panic attacks, and avoidance of situations involving pregnancy or childbirth. The most prevalent type of tokophobia is called secondary tokophobia, and it usually affects women who have already given birth and have experienced a traumatic delivery previously. A 20-item questionnaire called the fear of childbirth questionnaire (FCQ) is used to scale people's fear of giving birth. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is mostly used as a non-pharmacological treatment.

Benefits of Mindfulness Training on the Mental Health of Women During Pregnancy and Early Motherhood: A Randomized Controlled Trial / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

OBJECTIVE@#This study aimed to evaluate the effects of a mindfulness-based psychosomatic intervention on depression, anxiety, fear of childbirth (FOC), and life satisfaction of pregnant women in China.@*METHODS@#Women experiencing first-time pregnancy ( n = 104) were randomly allocated to the intervention group or a parallel active control group. We collected data at baseline (T0), post-intervention (T1), 3 days after delivery (T2), and 42 days after delivery (T3). The participants completed questionnaires for the assessment of the levels of depression, anxiety, FOC, life satisfaction, and mindfulness. Differences between the two groups and changes within the same group were analyzed at four time points using repeated-measures analysis of variance.@*RESULTS@#Compared with the active control group, the intervention group reported lower depression levels at T2 ( P = 0.038) and T3 ( P = 0.013); reduced anxiety at T1 ( P = 0.001) and T2 ( P = 0.003); reduced FOC at T1 ( P < 0.001) and T2 ( P = 0.04); increased life satisfaction at T1 ( P < 0.001) and T3 ( P = 0.015); and increased mindfulness at T1 ( P = 0.01) and T2 ( P = 0.006).@*CONCLUSION@#The mindfulness-based psychosomatic intervention effectively increased life satisfaction and reduced perinatal depression, anxiety, and FOC.

Tocophobia: overwhelming fear of pregnancy and childbirth

Pregnancy and childbirth are a major life process for women. Childbirth is an outstanding life event for every woman. It is considered as normal to experience concern or anxiety to a certain degree, as it can help women to make ready for childbirth. But, if the fear becomes paralyzing and terrifying, it can turn out to be physically and emotionally disabling and give rise to a specific pathology termed as tocophobia. The aim of the present article is to analyze the tocophobic condition and to give a brief overview of the possible approaches currently available to mitigate the tocophobic condition.

Mediating effect of childbirth self-efficacy between pregnant women's mindfulness level and fear of childbirth / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

Objective To explore the mediating effect of the childbirth self-efficacy between mind-fulness level and fear of childbirth in pregnant women. Methods A total of 285 pregnant women were measured with five facet mindfulness questionnaire(FFMQ),childbirth attitude questionnaire(FOC),and the short form of the Chinese childbirth self-efficacy inventory(CBSEI-C32). Results The scores of mindful-ness level, fear of childbirth, outcome expectancy and self-efficacy expectancy were ( 127. 51 ± 11. 12), (31. 44±8. 84),(109. 36±30. 52) and(110. 02±30. 03),respectively. Pearson correlation analysis showed that mindfulness level was positively correlated with outcome expectancy and self-efficacy expectancy ( r=0. 247,r=0. 235,both P<0. 01),while negatively correlated with fear of childbirth(r=-0. 274,P<0. 01). Outcome expectancy and self-efficacy expectancy were negatively correlated with fear of childbirth ( r=-0. 251,r=-0. 233,both P<0. 01). The mediating effect of outcome expectancy and self-efficacy expectancy between mindfulness level and fear of childbirth was significant(P<0. 01),and the mediating effect sizes were 17. 8% and 15. 6%, respectively. Conclusion Childbirth self-efficacy partly mediates mindfulness level and fear of childbirth in pregnant women.

Mediating effect of childbirth self-efficacy between pregnant women's mindfulness level and fear of childbirth / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

Objective@#To explore the mediating effect of the childbirth self-efficacy between mindfulness level and fear of childbirth in pregnant women.@*Methods@#A total of 285 pregnant women were measured with five facet mindfulness questionnaire(FFMQ), childbirth attitude questionnaire(FOC), and the short form of the Chinese childbirth self-efficacy inventory(CBSEI-C32).@*Results@#The scores of mindfulness level, fear of childbirth, outcome expectancy and self-efficacy expectancy were(127.51±11.12), (31.44±8.84), (109.36±30.52)and(110.02±30.03), respectively.Pearson correlation analysis showed that mindfulness level was positively correlated with outcome expectancy and self-efficacy expectancy(r=0.247, r=0.235, both P<0.01), while negatively correlated with fear of childbirth(r=-0.274, P<0.01). Outcome expectancy and self-efficacy expectancy were negatively correlated with fear of childbirth(r=-0.251, r=-0.233, both P<0.01). The mediating effect of outcome expectancy and self-efficacy expectancy between mindfulness level and fear of childbirth was significant(P<0.01), and the mediating effect sizes were 17.8% and 15.6%, respectively.@*Conclusion@#Childbirth self-efficacy partly mediates mindfulness level and fear of childbirth in pregnant women.