According to researchers from the University of Liverpool, the number of tokophobes, or women terrified of childbirth, is increasing at an alarming rate thanks to reality TV shows, reports Le Parisien.
Tokophobia comes from the Greek tokos, meaning childbirth, and phobos, meaning fear, and symptoms can include nightmares, difficulty in concentrating, panic attacks and psychosomatic complaints.
Primary tokophobia can start in adolescence and often relates back to their mother’s experience or something they learned in school. Secondary tokophobia is usually the result of a traumatic experience like difficult childbirth, poor obstetric practice or medical attention, sexual abuse or rape, and postpartum depression.
At a maternity hospital in Liverpool, the number of cases of tokophobia has risen by 40 per cent in three years, and researchers believe that popular television reality shows depicting childbirth are to blame. Although rare, tokophobia can also affect expectant fathers, who show an excessive concern about the birth of the child.
Some women are so anxious, they request caesarean section delivery. Preliminary results from Swedish and Finnish studies report that more than half of the women withdrew their request for a caesarean after being able to discuss their anxiety and fear.