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You may or may not look this happy in active labour. If you’re not in active labour, you might be asked to check in again later. Your provider will advise you about next steps. If you have your partner make the call, don’t be surprised if they’re asked to hand you the phone so your provider can talk through a few contractions with you to see how you’re managing. When you call your doctor/midwife/hospital, you’ll be asked to describe your contractions and answer a few other questions. Burlington and Area Midwives, Midwives of Mississauga, East Mississauga Midwives, Access Midwives, Community Midwives of Hamilton, Hamilton Midwives, or Mountain Midwifery Care), you will have been given a pager number to request a call from your primary midwife when you are in labour. If you’re with one of the local midwife groups (Community Midwives of Halton, Midwifery Care of Peel and Halton Hills.
#CONTRACTIONS TIMING APP HOW TO#
What’s The Number? Here’s how to get in touch with Labour and Delivery at our Halton, Hamilton and Mississauga Hospitals: Side note: if you time contractions for a while and you don’t see a pattern, take a break! Come back later if you sense that things are changing. When this is happening consistently for one hour, you’ve reached 4-1-1. Practical Example: What 4-1-1 Looks LikeĪt 4-1-1 contractions begin, last for one minute, and then there is a three minute break from the end of one contraction to the beginning of the next. Contractions about 30-6o seconds long and about 9 minutes apart. The time from the beginning of one contraction to the beginning of the next contraction is how “far apart” they are (frequency). The length of one contraction is from the time it begins to the time it ends.
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It can be nice to have your partner time contractions so you can relax. You might prefer that your partner or doula do the timing so that you don’t get caught up in scrutinizing the numbers but it’s totally your call. If you’re using an app to time contractions, all you’ll have to do is tap at the beginning of the contraction and again at the end of the contraction and the app will do the math for you, updating you as you go about average length and frequency. There’s an app for that! Search “contraction timer” in your app store and you’ll have lots of options. In the smartphone age, we no longer have use a pen and paper or do mental math to time contractions. Your personal plan might vary a bit if you’re located farther from your birthing location. You’ll likely be advised to call the doctor/midwife and/or hospital before heading in. This would mean it’s time to go to the hospital when your contractions are four or five minutes apart (your provider will tell you which one), each lasting about one minute, for one hour straight. If you’re having an uncomplicated pregnancy and contractions are your first noticeable sign of labour, your care provider will likely advise you to use a guideline of 4-1-1 or 5-1-1.
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As you move into real deal (active) labour, contractions will probably fall into a consistent and measurable pattern as they become longer, stronger and closer together. You might be advised to notify your provider when you’re experiencing this sporadic pattern of early labour. 15 minutes apart, then 10 minutes, then 20 minutes…or to stop altogether and pick up again later). It’s common in early labour for contractions to be sporadic (e.g. In the weeks leading up to your due date, your care provider – your doctor or midwife – will probably give you guidelines about when to call or page during labour. One thing you can do to prepare is to come up with your plan for calling your care provider and going into the hospital during labour. This is totally understandable! Especially if it’s your first birth there can be a lot of questions, a lot of excitement and sometimes a bit of anxiety. Something we talk about a lot in prenatal classes is what to expect in early labour. Posted by Oakville Family Birth DecemDecemPosted in birth, pregnancy, prenatal care, Uncategorized Tags: Birth classes, birth credit valley hospital, birth doula, birth joseph brant hospital, birth milton district hospital, birth oakville, birth oakville trafalgar memorial hospital, birth plan, birth with midwife, burlington birth classes, burlington prenatal classes, contraction timer app, contractions early labor, contractions early labour, doctor and doula, doula and doctor, doula and midwife, doula and OB, hamilton doula, how do I know if I'm in labour, how to time contractions, midwife and doula, milton birth classes, milton doula, milton prenatal classes, mississauga doula, oakville birth classes, oakville prenatal classes, OB and doula, pregnancy, pregnant, pregnant in burlington, pregnant in hamilton, pregnant in milton, pregnant in mississauga, pregnant in oakville, Prenatal classes, timing contractions, what to do in early labour, when should I go to the hospital in labour
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