Clinical trial NCT00801970: Fear of Childbirth (Tokophobia) - Etiology, Essence and Clinical Implications
Official title: Fear of Childbirth (Tokophobia) - Etiology, Essence and Clinical Implications
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: UNKNOWN
Phase: NA
Conditions: Phobias
Keywords: Fear of childbirth
Tokophobia
Anxiety
Labor
Pregnancy
Cognitive-behavioral
Psychoanalysis
Group Therapy
etiology
Lead sponsor: Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center
Sponsor class: OTHER_GOV
First posted: 2008-12-04
Enrollment: 150
Sex: FEMALE
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: FACTORIAL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: The purpose of this study is twofold:

* to understand the etiology and the essence of fear of childbirth
* to examine the implications and efficiency of several forms of psychological therapy.

Detailed description: Fear of childbirth (Tokophobia) is inconsistently defined in the research literature: some define it as an anxiety disorder while it is often defined as a form of phobia; some regard only the pre-pregnancy period, some regard the anxiety during pregnancy and some focus on the labor process. Despite the high prevalence (between 13%-20% of fertile women), research in this area is scarce and the current findings are incohesive due to various conceptualizations of the phenomenon and to various measurement methods.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* subjective diagnosis of tokophobia

Exclusion Criteria:

* currently undergoing psychological therapy
* Major Depression
* Acute Anxiety
* Psychosis
* Bipolar Disorder
* Suicidal
* Substance abuse
* Non-compliant personality disorder
* Health problems during pregnancy that affect perception

Primary outcomes:
measure: Tokophobia existing and new measures (e.g. Pregnancy anxiety scale, Levin, 1991; Tokophobia subjective scale)
timeFrame: Pre-treatment, Mid treatment, End of treatment
Secondary outcomes:
measure: For pregnant subjects - labor preference, duration and pain medication assessment.
timeFrame: post-labor
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Tel Aviv
country: Israel
facility: Psychiatry Outpatient Clinic - Sourasky Medical Center
Study officials:
affiliation: Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center
name: Miki Bloch, M.D
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Areskog B, Uddenberg N, Kjessler B. Fear of childbirth in late pregnancy. Gynecol Obstet Invest. 1981;12(5):262-6. doi: 10.1159/000299611.
citation: Eriksson C, Jansson L, Hamberg K. Women's experiences of intense fear related to childbirth investigated in a Swedish qualitative study. Midwifery. 2006 Sep;22(3):240-8. doi: 10.1016/j.midw.2005.10.002. Epub 2006 Apr 17.
citation: Hofberg K, Brockington I. Tokophobia: an unreasoning dread of childbirth. A series of 26 cases. Br J Psychiatry. 2000 Jan;176:83-5. doi: 10.1192/bjp.176.1.83.
citation: Hofberg K, Ward MR. Fear of childbirth, tocophobia, and mental health in mothers: the obstetric-psychiatric interface. Clin Obstet Gynecol. 2004 Sep;47(3):527-34. doi: 10.1097/01.grf.0000132527.62504.ca. No abstract available.
citation: Alehagen S, Wijma K, Wijma B. Fear during labor. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2001 Apr;80(4):315-20. doi: 10.1034/j.1600-0412.2001.080004315.x.
citation: Eriksson C, Westman G, Hamberg K. Experiential factors associated with childbirth-related fear in Swedish women and men: a population based study. J Psychosom Obstet Gynaecol. 2005 Mar;26(1):63-72. doi: 10.1080/01674820400023275.
citation: Johnson R, Slade P. Does fear of childbirth during pregnancy predict emergency caesarean section? BJOG. 2002 Nov;109(11):1213-21. doi: 10.1046/j.1471-0528.2002.01351.x.
citation: Olde E, van der Hart O, Kleber R, van Son M. Posttraumatic stress following childbirth: a review. Clin Psychol Rev. 2006 Jan;26(1):1-16. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2005.07.002. Epub 2005 Sep 19.
citation: Saisto T, Halmesmaki E. Fear of childbirth: a neglected dilemma. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2003 Mar;82(3):201-8.