Are you ready to go deeper into the real reasons behind tokophobia?

In this honest and eye-opening episode, Alexia and JJ confront one of the most overlooked (and misunderstood) realities for those living with a fear of pregnancy and birth: the trauma of your own birth. Forget everything you’ve been told about where anxiety “comes from”— because this one starts sooner, and runs deeper, than most of us ever realise.

Whether you know your own birth story or not, this episode unpacks why the experience of being born is often the hidden driver behind lifelong tokophobia — shaping everything from mental health to relationships, even before our conscious memories form.

Key discussion points:

• Why the majority of tokophobia cases stem from trauma experienced during your birth — not just the trauma of giving birth as an adult

• JJ’s powerful recollection of learning her own birth story, and the long shadow it cast over her life, creativity, and pregnancy experiences

• Alexia’s personal process of healing birth trauma — without knowing the details of her own birth — and how it was a turning point in overcoming tokophobia

• Making sense of tokophobia symptoms: feeling trapped, out of control, fear of not being “ready”, and why they’re so often rooted in the original birth experience

• How birth trauma impacts not just pregnancy, but identity, relationships, and mental health far beyond childhood

• Breaking the silence: why therapists, health professionals, and all of us need to look beyond childhood to understand reproductive anxiety

• The urgent call to reframe how we talk about birth trauma — so we stop conflating the experience of “giving birth” with “being born”

• Tangible hope: how healing the root of your fear (even if you don’t know your story) can transform your outlook and open up choice

This episode is for you if:

• You’re struggling with an intense, sometimes inexplicable fear of pregnancy or childbirth — even if no one else seems to “get it”

• You’ve felt dismissed by professionals who only look at childhood or adult traumas, and never consider what happened when you were born

• You’re feeling stuck, trapped, or out of control — not just about pregnancy, but in other parts of your life too

• You want to better understand yourself, break long-standing anxiety patterns, or make peace with your reproductive future

• You’re seeking practical hope, real-life experience, and validation that you’re not broken — and there is a way forward

If you’re craving a gentle but fiercely honest look at trauma, healing, and the true origins of tokophobia, this episode is your signpost. Step inside. You are welcome here.

Want more depth?

Explore the white papers, “Fear Sells (But It Doesn’t Serve)” and “The Case for Reproductive Anxiety Disorder,” or check out the RAD Responsible™ initiative for trauma-aware insights and support.

Find resources and join the community at tiktokophobia.com.

In this powerful episode of Tik-Tokophobia, cohost JJ Stenhouse steps into the guest seat and shares her personal journey with tokophobia—the overwhelming fear of pregnancy and childbirth.

Only recognising her tokophobia at age 68, JJ reveals how this hidden anxiety wove itself through her life, shaping her relationships, creativity, and even her sense of self.

The conversation explores the life-altering impact of unrecognised reproductive trauma, the challenges of healing, and what truly shifts when you finally put a name to your fear.

Key discussion points:

• Recognising tokophobia late in life: JJ’s realisation, after years of baffling anxiety, that her challenges with relationships and creativity were rooted in early birth trauma and reproductive anxiety.

• How tokophobia shapes life choices: The impact of tokophobia on relationships, marriage, and the choice (or absence of choice) to have children.

• Creative stifling: Discovering that tokophobia didn’t just stop JJ from having children—it also blocked her ability to “birth” creative projects or bring her ideas into the world.

• The emotional experience of miscarriage: JJ’s experience of intense terror, denial, and then unexpected anger during an early miscarriage, and how this was misunderstood by others (and herself).

• Grieving what never happened: Reflections on how menopause can trigger a fresh wave of grief for those who never had children, even when the decision was never clear-cut.

• Medical dismissal and societal judgement: Revisiting the insensitive responses from medical professionals and the isolation of being childless by circumstance, not always choice.

• Healing and hope: JJ’s approach to overcoming her tokophobia—naming the fear, releasing stored trauma in the body, and seeing real, tangible shifts in her anxiety, creativity, and connection with children.

• The creative renaissance: How finally addressing tokophobia led to a surprising burst of creativity and a deeper sense of safety and connection.

• Practical healing insights: The power of simply naming the issue, the link between body-based anxiety and reproductive trauma, and the role of readiness in personal healing.

Who is this episode for?

This episode is for anyone living with unexplained anxiety around pregnancy, birth, or even creativity — especially if you feel “blocked” in life and can’t quite put your finger on why.

It’s for those struggling to process reproductive trauma, feeling unseen by medical or mental health professionals, or grieving what could have been.

If you suspect you might have tokophobia or reproductive anxiety, or you simply want to understand how deep these fears can run, JJ’s story will offer both insight and hope.

Whether you’re searching for answers, validation, or a way forward, this episode will show you that you’re absolutely not alone — and that healing is possible at any stage of life.

If this resonates, check out our white papers — “Fear Sells (But It Doesn’t Serve)” and “The Case for Reproductive Anxiety Disorder” — and explore our RAD Responsible™ resources for more on safe, empowering storytelling around pregnancy and birth.

If you’ve ever felt a deep dread of pregnancy, birth, or anything connected to babies—only to wonder if you’re broken or mad for feeling that way — this episode will feel like coming home.

This week, Alexia and JJ turn the spotlight directly onto the messy, often misunderstood intersection between tokophobia (the pathological fear of pregnancy and childbirth) and mental health.

Sharing candid stories from their own healing journeys, they pull apart the ways tokophobia is more than “just a phobia” — it’s often the linchpin disorder underlying chronic anxiety, depression, OCD, isolation, and the crushing feeling of being fundamentally “not like other women”.

They also offer real hope: once you name it, you can begin to claim your life back.

In this episode:

• Why tokophobia is rarely “just” about birth — it’s the mother of all anxiety disorders (yes, really) and can fuel decades of depression, anxiety, and self-doubt

• How Alexia and JJ each realised they had tokophobia — sometimes only decades after the damage was done

• The vicious cycle: medical dismissal, social isolation, and why talking about tokophobia still feels taboo

• Triggers everywhere: from pregnant bumps to baby talk at work — how daily life can feel like an emotional minefield for people with tokophobia

• Relief after miscarriage? Fear of holding a friend’s baby? The tangled web of “unacceptable feelings” that come with the condition — and why you’re not alone

• Why the mental health system mostly fails tokophobic women, and how not being believed actually makes things worse

• The life-changing power of finally having a name for what you’re experiencing (and finding your tribe)

• Small steps to healing: where to seek help, how to find validation, and why your story really does matter

Who is this episode for?

This episode is a lifeline for anyone silently struggling with the fear of pregnancy, birth, or motherhood — especially if you:

• Feel haunted by anxiety, dread, or panic around anything to do with babies, pregnancy, or childbirth

• Experience depression, OCD or emotional isolation that seems tangled up in your reproductive story — but can’t find support that actually understands the root cause

• Have lost friendships, avoided life milestones, or kept quiet from embarrassment or shame

• Are tired of being dismissed by doctors, family, or even therapists who simply don’t “get it”

• Want to know you’re not broken — and need practical hope for healing

You don’t have to suffer in silence. This episode will leave you feeling seen, reassured, and ready to take the next step — whether that’s finding support, naming your fear, or simply realising you aren’t the only one feeling like this.

For professionals, partners, and anyone supporting someone with intense birth anxiety, this episode is an eye-opener — don’t miss the insight on true compassion and what actually helps.

If this resonates, subscribe to Tik-Tokophobia. There’s a whole community here waiting for you.

Welcome to the very first episode of Tik-Tokophobia. In this honest, unfiltered conversation, hosts Alexia Leachman and JJ Stenhouse break the silence around tokophobia – the intense, often hidden fear of pregnancy and childbirth.

Drawing from their own deeply personal stories, Alexia and JJ reveal how tokophobia can quietly shape a person’s entire life—not just their decisions about having children, but their mental health, relationships, and even creativity.

They challenge everything you thought you knew about reproductive anxiety and make a powerful case for why it’s time to drag this “invisible epidemic” into the open.

If you’ve ever felt paralysed by the idea of pregnancy, or if you’re wondering why anxiety, avoidance, or shame seem to follow you around this topic, this episode will leave you feeling seen, informed, and maybe even a bit hopeful.

Key Points Covered

• The true definition of tokophobia — and why it’s much more than “just a fear of childbirth”

• Alexia and JJ’s personal journeys: discovering their own tokophobia, often decades after it first shaped their lives

• What it feels like to be hit by overwhelming reproductive anxiety — and why it’s often mistaken for something else (anxiety, “not being maternal”, or just “not wanting kids”)

• The fundamental link between trauma (especially birth and early life experiences) and the root of tokophobia

• How tokophobia can sabotage relationships, creativity, and self-worth—often without you ever knowing its name

• Why tokophobia persists in silence: medical dismissal, professional blind spots, and the lack of awareness even among mental health experts

• The role of birth trauma—how your own birth experience can silently shape your lifelong relationship with fear, creativity, and belonging

• Breaking the “not for me” myth: tokophobia isn’t just for women actively planning children — its ripple effects reach anyone who’s ever been born

• The hope and transformation available when tokophobia is finally named, understood and healed

Who This Episode is For

• Anyone who feels dread, shame, or anxiety about pregnancy, birth, or even just encounters with babies—no matter their gender or parental status

• Listeners who suspect there’s something deeper behind their avoidance of pregnancy or long-term creative “blockages”

• Women who have been told they’re simply “not maternal”, “just anxious”, or “overthinking it”—and know there’s more to their story

• Individuals feeling misunderstood, dismissed, or alone in their fears, and wanting real insight (not just platitudes or shallow advice)

• Mental health professionals, partners, family members, and anyone wanting a deeper understanding of reproductive anxiety and its impact

If you’re looking for validation, clarity, and a way forward — this is your episode. Tik-Tokophobia is here to say: you’re not broken, you’re not alone, and real change is possible.

Subscribe and share — this conversation could change (or even save) someone’s life.

What happens when pregnancy fear runs so deep it shapes your entire life? In this raw and revealing episode, co-host Alexia Leachman opens up about her own journey with tokophobia — the crippling fear of pregnancy and childbirth. With co-host JJ Stenhouse guiding the conversation, Alexia unpacks how this hidden anxiety disorder can blindside you, how she battled (and beat) her own fears, and why most women suffering in silence aren’t “broken” — they’ve simply never been told what’s really going on.

Blending humour, honesty, and hard-won wisdom, this episode is a compassionate deep dive into the lived reality of tokophobia, the grief of missed opportunities, and the possibility of genuine healing.

Key discussion points:

• Discovering Tokophobia: Alexia’s shock at her intense terror on discovering she was pregnant, and how relief after miscarriage signalled something deeper than “normal” anxiety.

• Grief and Mental Health: The impact of losing her mother, years of unaddressed anxiety and depression, and how these complicated her response to pregnancy.

• Relationships and Reproductive Choices: How unrecognised tokophobia kept her from conversations about motherhood, shaped her relationship, and delayed family planning.

• Facing the Fear: Alexia’s struggle to find help, her frustration with the lack of pathways or language for what she was experiencing, and the inadequacy of “just do hypnobirthing” advice.

• Breakthroughs in Healing: How Alexia used mindset tools from her coaching background to address her deepest fears — even banishing a lifelong phobia of needles in under five minutes.

• From Dread to Home Birth: The journey from wanting to be knocked out for a c-section to choosing (and loving) a home birth, all by clearing fear layer by layer.

• The Aftermath: Realising (post-birth!) what tokophobia is, and how sharing her story led to other women seeking her help, eventually sparking her fear-free childbirth podcast and book.

• The Hidden Costs of Silence: Looking back, Alexia recognises how tokophobia shaped her identity, sex life, career choices, and friendships — even when she didn’t know it had a name.

• Calling Out the System: The frustration that health services and society still miss the signs, with women either dismissed or fast-tracked to surgery instead of support.

• A Message of Hope: Why healing is truly possible — often faster than you think — and how Alexia now helps others break free from the cage of reproductive fear.

This episode is for you if:

• You feel paralysed or overwhelmed at the idea of pregnancy, birth, or even talking about babies — but you’re not sure why.

• You’ve been told you’re just “anxious”, “not maternal”, or “odd”, and feel isolated or broken as a result.

• You’re already pregnant and terrified, desperate for answers that aren’t just “take a deep breath” or “book a c-section”.

• You suspect your struggles with intimacy, career focus, or relationships might be more deeply linked to the fear of pregnancy or birth.

• You’re a partner, professional, or friend trying to understand what a loved one is going through.

Whether you’re looking for language to describe what’s happening inside you, honest stories that validate your experience, or real hope that things can change — this episode is a safe, genuine space to begin.

Like what you hear? Subscribe, share, and join the conversation. You’re not alone, and there is a way forward.

What exactly is tokophobia, and why does it matter far beyond the walls of maternity wards? In this bold, honest first episode, hosts Alexia Leachman—a specialist who has healed her own tokophobia—and JJ, who lived with tokophobia unknowingly for nearly seventy years, crack open the hidden world of reproductive anxiety. Together, they expose how this pathological fear of pregnancy and birth can silently shape lives, relationships, and mental health, often without anyone realising.

Drawing from their own journeys and years of working with women facing these fears, Alexia and JJ reframe tokophobia as a profound anxiety disorder that deserves far more attention than it gets. This isn’t just for those planning families: if you’ve ever felt tense, trapped, or overwhelmed by the very idea of pregnancy—or seen those echoes elsewhere in your life—this episode is for you.