Tokophobia is real: The fear of childbirth

Imagine being terrified, not just anxious at the thought of pregnancy but also childbirth. For many, this is a constant fear and not just a seasonal discomfort. Yet, despite its impact on mental health and reproductive choices, the fear of childbirth remains overlooked. 

Growing up, I always heard from women in the community that labour is the most painful thing in this world. They always added that no one can ever understand this kind of pain till they get to experience it themselves. So, this always kept me very anxious as a young girl.

This is TOKOPHOBIA, a pathological fear of childbirth, which often leads to avoidance of it. Primary tokophobia is seen in women who have never been pregnant before, while Secondary tokophobia is believed to arise out of previous traumatic childbirth experiences.

Lucky enough, I managed to enter into the profession of Nursing and Midwifery that views labour or childbirth as a normal physiological event. Truthfully, women’s experience of pain during labour varies greatly. Some women feel little pain whilst others find the pain extremely distressing. A woman’s position in labour, mobility, and fear and anxiety or, conversely, confidence may influence her experience of pain.

Why am I talking about the fear of childbirth?

The buzzword within healthcare at the moment is ‘Prevention’. If I could personally prevent anything within my profession, it would be Fear of Pain and Fear of Birth. I would like to Prevent Traumatic Birth!

How would I do this?

• Antenatal education for first time mums about childbirth would be mandatory and not an added extra – it would be evidence based, honest and authentic.
• Pain relief options would be discussed and the realities of access to pain relief medication would be discussed
• Birth preferences would be discussed but also how unpredictable birth can be.
• The realities of the health system – such as delays with inductions, and managed expectations.
• An understanding that complications and emergencies can occur – but we are thoroughly trained to resolve them
• Remembering we want to work with you as a mother with your family and not against you – communication both ways and the birthing person and their family are part of the team.

Well, none of this is ‘Rocket Science’ but Fear and Pain in Childbirth is still a very real issue 100 years on, yet highly overlooked
It’s important to note that birthing peoples’ experience of childbirth can be traumatic and cause post-traumatic stress disorder and I believe in the majority of cases, this can be preventable.

The writer; Lilian Nuwabaine Luyima is Worlds’ Best Nurse Finalist 2024; Multi-Award-Winning Researcher 2023; Heroes in Health Award Winning Midwife 2021 & Outstanding woman of 2021