Some women have this phobia, we will tell you what it is and how it can be managed.
Feelings regarding different stages of life are diverse, multiple, and almost always have to do with the conditions in which said stages occur in people’s lives. Pregnancy is no exception. But some people develop a particular phobia that is not always talked about.
Phobia and motherhood
The ways in which certain decisions or stages are faced are related to our personal history and to numerous factors that cause us to take a certain attitude towards them. Fears also arise from said personal history and are not always justified. That is when we talk about “phobias” and although there are numerous rational reasons to fear being a mother or father, when a phobia arises we usually talk about irrational reasons that are not very easy to understand for those who suffer from it..
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In that sense, health psychologist Bárbara Bravo, consulted by the newspaper, explained to said medium that “A woman can suffer tokophobia for a wide variety of reasons. I have found women who have difficulty seeing themselves as mothers, which is generally due to problems in their own childhood or with their maternal-filial relationship. Others may be afraid of getting sick or having problems during pregnancy or the birth process.. There is documentation that even explains that women who suffer from tokophobia could have been victims of rape or sexual abuse”.
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Some alarming figures
According to the same newspaper, about 14% of women in the world suffer from tokophobia, figures that the Spanish media cites, considering an investigation by Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica, from 2016, the year in which the study was carried out on about 850 thousand pregnant women from 18 nations.
He reports that specialists especially consider two types of tokophobia: the primary one, which would affect those women who were pregnant, and the secondary one, which would occur in people who went through a traumatic birth.this is based on some testimonies that the British Journal of Midwifery received when addressing this important debate.
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What can we do?
The women’s care, pregnancy and motherhood portal published some of the recommendations made by specialists to address and treat this type of phobia. Four of the most important are the following:
- Trace the origin of fears
- Receive birth preparation courses
- Perform sports and exercises for older people
- Practice meditation and mindfulness
The importance of having a mental and reproductive health professional is essential in these cases. Don’t hesitate to seek help if you need it. Remember that in Because I Want to Be Well.