Pregnancy and anxiety disorders

Pregnancy and childbirth can be a source of anxiety – women may worry about being pregnant or about giving birth.1 Beyond anxiety, a specific phobia of childbirth is known as tokophobia.¹

References:

1.Mind.org. Perinatal anxiety. Available at: https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/postnatal-depression-and-perinatal-mental-health/perinatal-anxiety/. Accessed March 2025.

2.Yonkers KA, Gilstad-Hayden K, Forray A, Lipkind HS. Association of panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and benzodiazepine treatment during pregnancy with risk of adverse birth outcomes. JAMA Psychiatry 2017; 74 (11): 1145–1152.

3.van Heyningen T, Honikman S, Myer L, et al. Prevalence and predictors of anxiety disorders amongst low-income pregnant women in urban South Africa: a cross-sectional study. Arch Womens Ment Health 2017; 20 (6): 765–775.