Tokophobia: Psychopathology and Diagnostic Consideration of Ten Cases

Abstract

Tokophobia is regarded as the intensive fear of childbirth that some pregnant women have. However, little is known about the psychopathological details of tokophobia (fear of childbirth). Between 2020 and 2021, a total of 10 pregnant women (nine nulliparae and one multipara) with a strong fear of childbirth were referred by obstetricians. Semi-structured psychopathological interviews were conducted, and two cases were judged to have obsession, three an overvalued idea, and one secondary delusion. Three were characterised by both obsession and overvalued idea and one by both obsession and secondary delusion. In total, six cases had features of an overvalued idea. All of the participants except one had a lifetime history of a specific phobia. In addition, their history included social phobia in two cases, panic disorder in one case, obsessive–compulsive disorder (other than tokophobia) in two cases, depressive disorder in two cases, bipolar disorder in two cases, and PTSD in six cases. To conclude, this study showed that tokophobia was not a phobic disorder but a kind of overvalued idea that requires specific assessment and treatment.

Keywords

• tokophobia (fear of childbirth)
• psychopathology
• diagnosis
• Japanese women