Many people experience anxiety before giving birth. You who are pregnant may be afraid of losing control, of the pain or of the child or yourself being hurt. Some are so afraid of childbirth that it affects their entire existence, but what exactly is fear of childbirth?

About one in five pregnant people state that they feel some form of anxiety or fear related to childbirth. This fear may be based on negative thoughts, feelings or concerns about childbirth from both physical and/or psychological aspects. This may include concern about losing control over the birthing situation, fear that something will happen to you or your child, or previous exposure to violence and abuse.

Fear of childbirth is usually divided into primary and secondary fear of childbirth. Primary fear of childbirth means that the pregnant person has a fear of childbirth during their first pregnancy, which may even be expressed *before* the pregnancy. Secondary fear of childbirth occurs after a previous childbirth involving a negative/traumatic experience.

Furthermore, the fear of childbirth, regardless of whether it is primary or secondary, can be divided into different degrees of severity, from mild to severe. If someone has an extreme fear of even considering pregnancy or vaginal delivery, this is know as tokophobia.

It is important to tell your midwife at the clinic if you have negative thoughts, feelings or experience anxiety before your upcoming birth. They will then talk to you more about this and help you further. You can get further help within your own maternity clinic and/or be referred to another clinic, depending on how strong your concern is. In maternity clinics, midwives and doctors are used to dealing with fear of childbirth, so it’s nothing you need to be ashamed of.