Bristol study finds women taking extreme measures to avoid pregnancy

Women are taking extreme measures to avoid getting pregnant new research finds.

A study by Helen Stephens at the University of the West of England in Bristol, revealed that for some women, the fear of childbirth known as tokophobia, was so extreme they had researched the possibility of being sterilised or terminating pregnancies.

The study newly suggests that women may experience a fear of pregnancy and childbirth, or have a separate fear of childbirth alone.

As well as being a mental torture for the phobic women, tokophobia also manifested itself as physical symptoms including increased heartbeat, nausea, stress and nightmares.

Women scared of the physical pain of labour cannot be guaranteed a caesarean section as these are only granted on an individual basis according to medical need.

During her research, Helen found one woman acutely aware of this who had saved £25,000 to have the operation performed privately should she not be granted one on the NHS.

Though she was successful with her request another woman was not so lucky. Denied a caesarean section by the NHS who did not deem her tokophobia to be a valid medical reason, she is now considering adoption instead.

Researcher Helen says that an important finding during her research was the feeling of isolation these women experience, that “other people do not understand.”

She said: “ All of these women felt unable to talk about their views around pregnancy and childbirth because of a concern of how others would react. As a result most of the women now keep their feelings to themselves. Further research is need into both tokophobia and fear of pregnancy, and into the support available for women with these fears.”