by Lisa Curcio

Created on: November 13, 2009   Last Updated: November 18, 2009

When your pregnancy gets to the point where you think you are in labor, it is important to know the correct way to time contractions. When you call your Midwife or Obstetrician they will need to know exact times of your contractions, how long they last and how far apart they are. If you are incorrectly timing and recording your contractions you could end up in the hospital long before you are ready or even worse, in not nearly enough time.

You will need:

A Stop Watch, Or A Watch with a Second Hand
A Contraction Journal
Pen

What you need to know about contractions:

The time from when one contraction starts, until the time the next contractions starts is how far apart your contractions are.

The length of the contraction is the time that the contraction starts until it is over.

Real contractions will not lessen in intensity or pain when you get up and move around.

Most likely, contractions will not increase in perfect regularity.

Once you are certain that you are having Real Contractions and that you are in Real Labor, and not experiencing Braxton Hicks Contractions, you will need to pull out your Contraction Journal and a pen, along with your Stop Watch or Watch with a Second Hand.

Unless your contractions are very strong and very close right away, you can start timing the contractions from the beginning of one, to the beginning of another. Write down the time your contraction starts for about 30-60 minutes, or until they are consistently coming less 10 minutes apart or less. They may be as far apart as 20 minutes, the next may be 5 minutes later, followed by a contraction 15 minutes later. As long as they are 30-45 seconds apart, not very strong, and inconsistent, you are still in very early labor and can try to relax and get some rest.

If your contractions have not become consistent within 30-60 minutes, feel free to stop timing, there is no reason to keep timing unless they are getting closer together and getting stronger. You can keep timing if you would like, but you may be in this stage for several more hours or even days. If after some time, you feel like they are occurring more frequently and are getting stronger, pull out your stopwatch and journal and take note of your contractions for another 30-60 minutes. You also do not need to sit still, lie in bed or stop your daily routine if they are not consistent or getting stronger. It is also very likely that you will be able to go to bed, get a full nights sleep and wake up in the morning still in very early labor.

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