Contraction timer: one button, honest math

Tap when a contraction starts, tap when it ends. The timer keeps the log, works out durations and intervals, and averages your last six so you can read a pattern at a glance. Everything stays in this browser.

This is a note-taking aid, not a medical device

If anything feels wrong, call your provider now. And some signs should never wait for a pattern. Heavy bleeding means call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room right now. Your baby moving less than usual, or your water breaking with green, brown, or red color, means call your provider or maternity unit now, without timing anything.

Time your contractions

One tap at the start, one tap at the end. That is the whole job.

What 5-1-1 means

Many US providers use 5-1-1 as a rule of thumb for a first baby at full term: contractions about 5 minutes apart (start to start), each lasting about 1 minute, and keeping that rhythm for about 1 hour. When your log looks like that, it is usually time to call.

Your own provider's numbers win over any rule of thumb. Some will say 4-1-1 or 3-1-1, and second babies often move faster. NHS guidance is simpler still: call your midwife or maternity unit when regular contractions are coming every 5 minutes or more often, or any time you think you are in labor and are unsure.

Timing also helps you tell practice contractions from the real thing. ACOG notes that true labor contractions come at regular intervals and get closer together, while false labor is irregular and often fades with rest and water.

Call now, without waiting for any pattern

Whatever your contraction log says:

  • Heavy bleeding from the vagina: call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room right now (CDC urgent maternal warning signs)
  • Your baby is moving less than usual: call your provider or maternity unit right away (NHS)
  • Your water breaks with green, brown, or red color, or breaks without contractions starting: call your provider right away (NHS; ACOG advises calling your ob-gyn when your water breaks)
  • Constant severe pain with no break between contractions: call your provider or maternity unit right away
  • You are before 37 weeks and think you might be in labor: call your provider or maternity unit right away (NHS)

Sources

  1. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists: How to Tell When Labor Begins (true vs false labor patterns, calling when your water breaks)
  2. NHS: Signs that labour has begun (call at every 5 minutes or more often, reduced movements, colored waters, before 37 weeks)
  3. CDC HEAR HER: Urgent Maternal Warning Signs (heavy bleeding routes to emergency care)

NHS and CDC links checked live on 2026-07-24. ACOG pages block automated checks, so those two links await a human recheck. The exact 5-1-1 numbers are a common US rule of thumb rather than a fixed clinical standard, which is why your provider's instructions always come first. Claims: preg.rule_511.v1 and preg.callnow_no_pattern.v1, clinical review in progress.

Education, not medical advice

This timer takes notes. It does not diagnose, predict, or decide. Your care team does that, and one phone call to them beats any app.

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