All women at some point in our lives have been afraid of getting pregnant . Who has not suffered at some time when seeing that their menstruation did not go down on the corresponding date ? Who hasn’t gotten on edge thinking that a baby may be on the way?
These specific doubts are something totally normal. However, when the fear of getting pregnant or childbirth becomes irrational and conditions your life and your behaviors, we may be talking about a phobia: tocophobia . In Diario Femenino we have spoken with the psychologist Ingrid Pistono to tell us what exactly it consists of, what the symptoms are and what is its treatment. Attention!
Tocophobia, the fear of getting pregnant: how to recognize it
” Tocophobia is the irrational fear of becoming pregnant or childbirth,” says Ingrid Pistono. According to the psychologist, they can differentiate between two types of tocophobia. “ Primary tocophobia occurs in those women who have never had children or who become pregnant for the first time; while secondary tocophobia is experienced by those women who are already mothers and become pregnant for the second or third time ”, she explains.
In the latter case (secondary tocophobia), we could say that the phobia is produced by post-traumatic stress due to bad experiences in previous pregnancies or childbirth. The mother is “traumatized” by this and develops an atrocious pregnancy panic.
If I am very afraid of getting pregnant, does it mean that I have tocophobia?
No. It is normal for you to be afraid of pregnancy if you are still too young to be a mother, for example, or do not have the financial stability necessary to raise a baby. As with other phobias that we talk about in our dictionary of phobias , this fear turns into a phobia when it is irrational and excessive .
You can suffer from tocophobia if …
+You use more than one contraceptive method in your intimate relationships (for example the pill and the condom) for fear that one of them will fail and you will get pregnant.
+Even using more than one method of birth control, you obsess over the idea that you are pregnant after intercourse.
+You give up even having relationships with your partner.
+You are seriously considering giving up being a biological mother and are constantly looking for other ways of motherhood such as adoption.
+You have already been a mother and you consider requesting sterilization so that you do not have to go through that experience again.
+You experience an exacerbated fear for your own life and / or that of the baby .
+You do not have confidence in the medical and health personnel and you believe that they will not properly attend your delivery and you will be in danger.
+You experience all the symptoms of anxiety every time you are asked when you are going to be a mother.
Treatment for tocophobia
Depending on the type of tocophobia you suffer from, the treatment will be one or the other. However, in both cases, the most recommended option is to go to a psychologist .
+In the case of primary tocophobia, like other phobias, the most effective treatment is the therapy Cognitive Behavioral . This therapy consists of gradually and progressively exposing the patient to the feared situation until they no longer fear it . As in this case the patient cannot be directly exposed to the feared stimulus, that is to say to pregnancy, the therapy would consist of bringing that person closer to the gestation process. How? Accompanying her to the hospital to speak with the gynecologist, the midwife, the obstetrician; showing her the delivery room … All with the aim of expanding her information about the pregnancy so that the patient better understands the process and feels more secure and fearless.
+For its part, secondary tocophobia must be treated as a type of post-traumatic stress, being the most appropriate therapy for this EMDR .
