Fear of Childbirth (Tokophobia) - Etiology, Essence and Clinical Implications

Fear of Childbirth (Tokophobia) - Etiology, Essence and Clinical Implications

The purpose of this study is twofold:

• to understand the etiology and the essence of fear of childbirth
• to examine the implications and efficiency of several forms of psychological therapy.

Fear of childbirth (Tokophobia) is inconsistently defined in the research literature: some define it as an anxiety disorder while it is often defined as a form of phobia; some regard only the pre-pregnancy period, some regard the anxiety during pregnancy and some focus on the labor process. Despite the high prevalence (between 13%-20% of fertile women), research in this area is scarce and the current findings are incohesive due to various conceptualizations of the phenomenon and to various measurement methods.

Inclusion Criteria:

• subjective diagnosis of tokophobia

Exclusion Criteria:

• currently undergoing psychological therapy
• Major Depression
• Acute Anxiety
• Psychosis
• Bipolar Disorder
• Suicidal
• Substance abuse
• Non-compliant personality disorder
• Health problems during pregnancy that affect perception