Tokophobia In Fathers: A Narrative Review

Context: Tokophobia is an intense fear of childbirth that may result in considerable outcomes. This phenomenon may also be observed in fathers. However, studies are infrequent on tokophobia frequency and its related factors in fathers. Therefore, this study aimed to address tokophobia in fathers.Evidence Acquisition: A comprehensive literature search was performed in databanks such as Ovid and Google Scholar, as well as electronic databases including PubMed, ProQuest, Web of Science, Science Direct, Magiran, Scientific Information Database (SID), and Barakat (IranMedex), without time limit. Articles were published between 1988 and 2020.Results: Initially, 150 studies were recruited, and finally, 55 of them remained for the final appraisal after omitting unrelated studies. The findings from related studies were organized as the epidemiology of tokophobia in men, biopsychosocial etiology, clinical signs, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of tokophobia in men. Considering the tendency of fathers to hide tokophobia, providing suitable knowledge and support from health providers can probably retain the trust in this population and help them cope with tokophobia.Conclusions: During pregnancy, fathers may suffer from fear of childbirth that can impact their health and abilities. Thus, during counseling and prenatal care, the providers should pay attention to fathers.