Taking into account those who do not meet the clinical threshold for a diagnosis, the proportion of women with the problem could be as high as 30%, she said. Speaking at the British science festival, taking place at the university, Jones said that tocophobic encompassed a wide spectrum of emotions, only the severest of which were diagnosed as a medical condition. It can also be due to previous exposure to a story or something they have seen on TV or social media,” she said. “Some women develop it due to an adverse birth experience but for others the main cause can be a history of childhood or adult sexual assault or abuse. Kenny added that the main causes of the condition varied depending on whether you were pregnant with your first or second child. It is not a major cause of tocophobia but a recognised one,” she said. “ shared in safe environments can be quite healing and informative but some women are predisposed to developing a phobia due to stories taken out of context or experiences that are graphic. Professor Louise Kenny, executive pro-vice-chancellor at the University of Liverpool, who has studied tocophobia said that the problem was seriously under-researched and there was little literature on the condition. These are the problems that need to be reviewed and critiqued, not the women sharing their experiences of birth via platforms like Mumsnet, where they seek solidarity and understanding,” Walker said. “Giving birth is not a medical problem to be fixed by doctors, but women in labour are treated as patients. Sophie Walker, leader of the Women’s Equality party said the medical world lacked understanding of women’s health needs and that women shared their stories of being given interventions like forceps and cutting without being consulted, or their birth plans being changed at the last minute. Stephanie deGiorgio, a GP from Kent, said that the comments could make women feel guilty for sharing traumatic experiences and was “incredibly patronising”. That is much better than Googling a particular story about someone with a particular message to give out,” she said. “It is good for mums to talk to one another. Hesz said that mothers try to prepare themselves for birth but it don’t always go to plan. But what is really helpful, and to counter that, is talking to real mums about what will happen.” Sarah Hesz, who runs a social networking app for mothers called Mush, said: “To blame Mumsnet is silly … What can be toxic is a mum being at home by themselves and obsessing over their phone and Googling horror stories. She added: “One of the most common complaints we see on this topic is ‘Why on Earth didn’t anyone tell me the truth about how bad it could be?’’ “Understandably, a great deal of NHS messaging about labour focuses on the positive, but the downside of this is that mothers who have traumatic experiences feel, in retrospect, that they were given a deeply partial account,” said Justine Roberts, the chief executive of Mumsnet. Her comments have prompted a debate, with others arguing that sharing stories about difficult births can be positive for women.
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