Tokophobia - Fear of Childbirth

national | consumer issues | opinion/analysis Friday March 07, 2008 17:51 by Tracy Donegan TracyDonegan at DoulaIreland dot com

Taking the Fear out of Childbirth

Tokophobia is a debilitating fear of childbirth which in many cases is so profound that it can lead to a complete avoidance of pregnancy or a pregnancy filled with terror and anxiety.

Tokophobia

As women are more frequently exposed to disturbing images and stories of childbirth from friends family and especially the media, Tokophobia is becoming more and more common. For whatever reason (movies…..scary birth stories etc) your subconscious mind has associated childbirth with something to be feared. The most painful aspect of Tokophobia is that many of these women long to have children of their own.

Actress Helen Mirren described where her own fear of childbirth came about in a recent interview after being exposed to a childbirth video in her early teens in school.
"I swear it traumatised me to this day. I haven't had children and now I can't look at anything to do with childbirth. It absolutely disgusts me." - Helen Mirren

There are two kinds of Tokophobia – ‘Primary’ Tokophobia for women who have never given birth and ‘Secondary – those women who’s previous birth experiences were so traumatic that they are also suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder – a condition associated with war veterans. According to author and birth expert Sheila Kitzinger approximately 1 in 20 women having a hospital birth will leave the hospital with PTSD.

This high level of fear is irrational and uncontrollable. It cannot be consciously controlled by counseling, yoga or controlled breathing…(although these will help with the feelings of panic)…...the change has to be initiated in the subconscious mind. Telling a woman suffering with Tokophobia to get over it would be akin to telling someone to change their spiritual beliefs, their love for chocolate or passion for shoes ! It’s part of who they are at a very deep level. Just like any other irrational fear such as flying or other phobias it’s easy to resolve with hypnotherapy. All the talk therapy in the world won’t even scrape the surface with an irrational fear. You can’t reason with such a strong negative belief….women often say – “logically I know birth is relatively safe and my hospital has all the tools I need if it’s necessary to intervene so why am I still so terrified?” When sufferers understand that it’s not the logical reasoning part of their mind that is creating this panic it’s the subconscious mind an area which we have no conscious control over.
If you suffer from Tokophobia you are not alone and help is available.

Using self hypnosis you how you feel about pregnancy and childbirth easily and effectively. You weren't born with this fear and it is possible to recondition your subconscious mind to expect pregnancy and birth to be much more positive – something to be excited about rather than feared and avoided. You begin to associate pregnancy and birth with much more positive images and feelings. You may still have the same thoughts about childbirth but the anxiety is gone and is replaced with normal feelings of excitement. Tokophobia becomes a thing of the past as the normal worries of becoming a parent take hold (maternity leave, finding childcare and putting your childs name down for primary school !)

Hypnosis is not magic but it definitely feels that way to the women who go from planning a cesarean under general anesthetic to comfortable enjoyable pregnancies and blissful births !!

Tracy Donegan