title: Tokophobia (fear of childbirth): prevalence and risk factors.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify the prevalence of and to determine the risk factors for developing a fear of childbirth (tokophobia).
  
  
  METHODS
  We evaluated 191 pregnant women during Parenting and Childbirth Classes. Participants were approached when attending Parenting and Childbirth Classes between June 2014 and September 2014 and were asked to complete several questionnaires related to depression (CES-D), anxiety (STAI X1 and X2), satisfaction with life (SWLS), delivery expectation/experience (W-DEQ), and specific fears.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Most (90%) of the responders were nulliparous. As many as 75% of the participants reported low to moderate tokophobia, whereas 25% exhibited high or very high fear of childbirth. Pathological fear occurred in 1.6% of the participants. The most significant was the fear of having an episiotomy followed by fear of having no control on the situation and fear of pain. An association exists between a preferred elective cesarean birth and tokophobia.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results draw attention to the need for early detection and treatment of fear of childbirth. The data may help identifying women at risk that require prenatal psychological intervention.
authors.affiliation: Division of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Demšar
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Matija
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Svetina
authors.affiliation: Division of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Verdenik
authors.affiliation: Division of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Natasa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tul
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kaplan Medical Center and The Hadassah Hebrew University School of Medicine, Jerusalem, Israel, Tel.: +972-545-201789.
authors.forename: Isaac
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Blickstein
authors.affiliation: Division of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Vislava
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Globevnik Velikonja
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002585:Cesarean Section / Q000523:psychology; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric / Q000523:psychology; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D036801:Parturition / Q000523:psychology*; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D011247:Pregnancy; D037841:Pregnant People / Q000523:psychology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D017524:Slovenia / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Anxiety; depression; fear of childbirth; pregnancy; tokophobia