Verbatim extracts from women's responses about their pregnancy fears (Theme: ‘Fears of Pregnancy’)

Pregnancy is a scary thought there is nothing I want more then to be a mum, but I am so scared about becoming pregnant and hurting my child or myself that I have never had sex as I'm so scared of there being an accident ……

I'm terrified about becoming pregnant when not on pre-con. I don't believe that I would ever be able to follow pre-con because I'm so bad at normal PKU diet. If I did have a child on pre-con, I'd worry at how I would cope with life, PKU and a baby. I can't cope with life on my own as it is now. I also worry at how my baby anxieties will affect my relationship as my partner is very keen to start a family. I am scared that I won't be able to follow pre-con, and this will have an effect on our relationship.

Fears about unplanned pregnancy has affected my ability to develop relationships in that way despite the knowledge that I can have a safe pregnancy if planned.

I think having been bombarded with information about pregnancy with PKU since around the age of 12, (quite rightly), it almost has put me off having children. However, I think this has been sub conscious. I had a couple of scares in my teens and early 20s, and it was awful worrying so much!! With this condition, I have always been very clear that I would seriously have to be desperate for a baby to go through it.