It seems to have taken us until the 21st century to find a word which describes an unspoken fear experienced by young women throughout the ages.In 2000, an article from the British Journal of Psychiatry introduced the term tokophobia (also spelt tocophobia) to describe the fear of childbirth, based on the Greek word for childbirth, tokos. Sufferers are described as tokophobic (tocophobic), and at their most extreme, fear the prospect of death whilst giving birth. Two types of tokophobia have been identified: primary tokophobia, which pre-dates pregnancy and can start as early as adolescence, and secondary tokophobia, which is associated with an earlier traumatic experience in childbirth.
Tokophobics are basically those of us who are just plain freaked out by the prospect of pregnancy, childbirth and the early days of motherhood! Very often fear of childbirth leads to a request for an elective caesarean section. Fear of labor pain is strongly associated with the fear of pain in general, and a previous complicated childbirth or inadequate pain relief are the most common reasons for requesting a caesarean section among pregnant women.
At least one woman in six is so terrified of giving birth that unbelievably, she induces a miscarriage or avoids becoming pregnant altogether, even though she desperately wants children.
READ....Extreme Fear of Birth Pain Forces Women to Miscarry
Go back to Word of the Week to find some more weird and wonderful words
November 26 2006 |
