Tokophobia experience and willingness to seek professional care among antenatal women in an urban metropolis of Nigeria: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Tokophobia affects many women before and during pregnancy and after childbirth, and it is accompanied by drastic birth outcomes. This study assessed the experience of tokophobia in expectant mothers and their propensity to seek medical attention from a professional. METHODS: The study utilized a descriptive cross-sectional design. Antenatal mothers were selected using a simple random sampling technique through the antenatal clinic register. An adapted pretested semi-structured questionnaire was used to obtain data from participants. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 25, and results were presented using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: The age range of the respondents was 15–36 years old, with a mean age of 27.4±1.8 years. Most respondents were multiparous women, with a greater proportion in their third trimester (48.6%) and second trimester (48.2%). From the overall analysis of pregnant women's experiences with tokophobia, 11.5% of them have an intense fear of childbirth, 48.5% have a moderate fear, 30.4% have a significant amount of fear, and just 9.6% have none. Regarding seeking professional care, above a quarter (38.2%) would also like to seek professional care for their tokophobia, while 30.5% were unsure of whether to seek professional care/assistance. Moreover, no statistically significant association was found between gestational age, parity status, previous mode of delivery, and tokophobia prevalence among the respondents. CONCLUSION: Tokophobia was prevalent among antenatal women in this study, and over a quarter of them would like to seek professional care for their tokophobia. Prenatal education should include childbirth-related fears and strategies to overcome them.