Women's lived experience of primary tokophobia
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Women's lived experience of primary tokophobia
IRAS ID
225936
Contact name
Eleanor Gunn
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Coventry University
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 5 months, 1 days
Research summary
Aims: The research aims to understand: what are the lived experiences of women who identify as having primary tokophobia Background: Primary tokophobia describes a severe and disabling fear of childbirth experienced by women that is present before the birth of their first child (Hofberg & Brockington, 2000; Hofberg & Ward, 2003). Primary tokophobia, along with other perinatal mental health difficulties is currently under-detected (Ryding et al., 2015; National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health, 2014) and under-treated in the NHS (Richens, Hindley, & Lavender, 2015). Rationale: Previous research has focussed on identifying the causes and consequences of both primary and secondary tokophobia. The limited number of studies that have adopted a qualitative approach have been: under-represented by women with primary tokophobia; been conducted in Scandinavian countries, where the sociocultural experience of pregnancy may be different to the UK and focussed on a specific sub-sample of tokophobic women, such those who are pregnant. The current research intends to address these limitations by using an Interpretative Phenomenological Approach (IPA) to understand the lived experience of women who identify as having experience of primary tokophobia and have given birth in the U.K. Method: Individual semi-structured interviews, lasting between 45 – 90 minutes, with between 6-10 purposely selected participants living in England will be conducted. The interviews will be audio recorded, transcribed and analysed in line with IPA research guidelines. Themes that emerge from the transcripts will be produced within a report as partial fulfillment of a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. Conclusion: It is hoped the research will promote a more holistic understanding of primary tokophobia; informing identification and intervention design so that women with primary tokophobia are better supported within statutory services. It is anticipated the project will be submitted to an academic journal for publication consideration as well as being presented at conferences and to staff and colleagues.
REC name
East of England - Essex Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/EE/0279
Date of REC Opinion
28 Jul 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion