Its an interesting article and ties in with my experiences of childbirth/pregnancy fear and the information I've found out along the way.
I find attitudes to fear and anxiety in the UK quite odd. After reading hundreds of threads on MN on the subject, I do feel there is a massive taboo about the subject and there is a massive cultural and institutional dismissal of women who suffer from more extreme anxiety whilst still pregnant. There are quite a few women who comment on being afraid of raising their fears because they think they will be ignored, laughed at, referred to social services or otherwise deemed a bad mother before the child is even born.
It seems only logical that because they are unable to express or tackle these fears properly in a meaningful way before going into labour, then its naturally going to compound the problem. But instead we are told that the rise of fear is down to the media portrayal of childbirth. I can't help but think thats bollocks. The issue is regardless of how childbirth is represented, if women don't feel able to talk about that and their individual fears properly and without judgment, then they are going to be unprepared and scared.
I feel that women generally need to be reassured and encouraged to talk to someone. Every time I see the comment "well everyone gets a little scared" on here, I want to scream at my computer because its such a dismissive phrase which doesn't help a lot of women and may deter them from getting the support they need.
I have had a very positive experience so far with a hospital that seems to be doing a lot of this already. I've had it explained to me as "fear and anxiety covers a massive spectrum with women at various points along that line" which I find a very good way of describing it, without making you feel like some kind of freak. Some find it a breeze but others really struggle with it and need the extra support. The range of normality is huge, yet we expect everyone to be within a certain narrow window. It doesn't make you less of a woman. Just different.
I actually like the points at the end of that article, which focus not on positive thinking so things don't go wrong, but more on mindfulness and acknowledging that things can go wrong, but preparing yourself for bad situations can be a good way to enable you to cope. I do feel that one of the problems with the pro-natural birth lobby has been this focus on positive thinking being the solution, but I think this is potentially dangerous in setting up some women for 'failure' rather than what they need which is 'coping'.
Certainly, though I am personally going down the ELCS route, the route I've been encouraged to take to cope with my fears, is very similar to that described and I'm finding it useful so far. Breaking down fear into smaller chunks and discussing it without judgment, has helped me build trust in those caring for me, which I didn't think I would be able to do. So I think it applies to everyone, regardless of how you give birth.
The one thing I would stress to anyone, is that if you are feeling fearful or anxious to the point where it is dominating your thoughts, causing you considerable stress or giving you repeated nightmares is to speak to someone and try and get some help. There are places and people that can offer you support that you need, and you are anything but a failure for trying to address your problems in a positive manner.