Fear of Giving Birth: Between Medical Control and Empowerment

Fear of giving birth. Fear of tearing. Fear of dying. Fear of losing control. Fear of being a burden. Fear of how we’ll look. Fear of repercussions. Fear of interventions. Fear there won’t be enough interventions. Fear of not following the protocol. Fear of harming the baby. Fear of trusting one’s body.

 Fear of fear.

Never in recent human history has the act of giving birth been surrounded by so much anxiety. What was once a process deeply rooted in physiology and the intuitive wisdom of bodies has now become a minefield of doubts and procedures. This fear is omnipresent—from the birthing person to the professionals who accompany them. It seeps into hospital walls, into medical discourse, and into parental choices. Behind every decision (induction, epidural, cesarean, newborn separation…) often hides a fear—more than an actual need.

Fetal Monitoring – Royalty-Free Image

And this fear is not neutral. It is the product of a system. Of a world that, in its desire to make birth ever safer, has gradually sanitized, controlled, and standardized it. A world that, in its pursuit of mastery, has forgotten that giving birth is not merely a sequence of medical acts. It is a human, sensory, intimate experience—one that requires time, trust, and presence. But how can we grant that time and presence when everything moves so fast, when staff are overwhelmed, when protocols and constraints take precedence? How can one trust oneself, one’s body, and one’s baby when everything around suggests that birth is a risk to manage rather than a profoundly transformative event to live through?

This climate of fear creates a vicious cycle. Fear brings tension. Tension increases pain. Pain intensifies fear (Dick-Read, 1933). Quickly, the birthing person feels overwhelmed, powerless, disconnected from their inner resources. They doubt. They surrender to others and, in that often unintentional abdication of power, may lose a precious part of themselves.

This is not about rejecting medicine. It’s about questioning, remembering that behind every protocol, there is a human being.

Fear of Giving Birth - Medical Environment – Photo Credit: Odile Finck-Beccafico

Behind every birth, there is a story. And to give birth differently, we must also learn to unlearn—to face and befriend our fears instead of letting them steer the experience.

It’s time to give back to birth what has been taken from it: its sovereignty, its slowness, its raw beauty, and above all, its trust.

And you—what fears live or have lived within you when thinking about birth? Whether you’re a father, a mother or a parent, dare to share your expérience, so together we can transform the story of birth itself.

Water Birth - Royalty-Free Image

To dive deeper into it

If you’d like to dive deeper into this topic, we’ve gathered a few resources to help you explore and reflect further:

• Audent, M. (édition 2014). Le bébé est un mammifère. Éditions L'Instant Présent.

• Rivard, A. (2014) Histoire de l'accouchement dans un Québec moderne. Les éditions du remue-ménage

• St-Amant, Stéphanie. (2013) « Déconstruire l'accouchement : épistémologie de la naissance, entre expérience féminine, phénomène biologique et praxis technomédicale ». Thèse. Doctorat en sémiologie. Université du Québec à Montréal

• Dick-Read, G.(2013) Childbirth without Fear: The Principles and Practice of Natural Childbirth. Pinter & Martin Ltd.

• Histoire des mères et de la maternité en Occident. (2^e éd.). Presses Universitaires de France.

• Gaskin, I. M. (2011). Birth matters: a midwife's manifesta. Seven Stories Press 1st ed. Seven Stories Press

• Hill, M. (2019). Give Birth Like a Feminist. Harper Collins

• Lebroyer, F. (2011). Pour une naissance sans violence. Points.