Tick, tock, tick, tock… When you’re pregnant, the countdown to your due date is all about months and days. However, when that first contraction kicks in, you’ll be clocking the minutes between contractions and the hours till birth!
And although lots of labouring women use a good ol’ clock or pen and paper to record the time between contractions, there are some great apps to help track your contractions the techie way.
We asked the Mum’s Grapevine Facebook community what contraction apps they used – and here are seven recommendations from all you modern mamas. Installing now!
Labor Signs
Labor Signs (free) makes it simple to time, log and track your contractions. You can also save your emergency contacts (midwife!), find the nearest hospital and refer to the different stages of contractions – all at the touch of a screen.
“Super easy to use and free!” – Hannah White
Contractions Counter
The Contractions Counter ($2.99) interface looks a bit like an aircraft cockpit, but it’s a lot easier to pilot this thing. With big Start and Stop buttons, it’s straightforward to log contractions, then generate charts and reports as your labour progresses.
“I used a contraction app and it was awesome!!! Midwife was even impressed by the accuracy as it let you know what stage you where at… think it was just called Contractions Counter.” – Sarah Ross
Full Term
Full Term (free) is a simple way to record the duration, frequency and intensity of contractions. It saves your full labour history and progress, and creates graphs so you can see trends in the last 10 contractions. It also has a dark theme for use in low light situations. Perfect.
“It was easy to use and you can email the info to yourself too.” – Amy-Louise Singh
Contraction Timer
Contraction Timer (free) records the length and regularity of labour pains, charts a ‘recent contractions’ graph and lets you edit and add comments. Plus, it’s got a cool bar along the top showing how long that last contraction was. Whoa mama.
“Third birth and I loved the Contraction Timer app. It takes all the guesswork out (I am hopeless). It is also a bit of a distraction. It’s also funny to look back at the patterns and the really long one at the end when bub came.” – Jen Collier
Contraction Master
Contraction Master ($2.99) makes it easy to record contractions, rate their intensity and email the information to your doctor or midwife. Plus, a Hospital Alert tells you when it’s time to leave for the labour ward, and even how to get there!
“I used an app called Contraction Master – and you can keep the record. Interesting to look back on after it’s all done!” – Michelle Batcock
BabyBump Pregnancy Pro
BabyBump Pregnancy Pro covers all bases when it comes to pregnancy. As well as having a contraction tracker, it features a kick counter, baby name database, countdown widget, access to pregnancy forums, charts and lots more.
“BabyBump app was good, it helped me a lot.” – Laura Casey Perrett
The Baby Diaries Plus
The Baby Diaries Plus ($2.99) app has a contraction timer for when your bub is en route, and once they’ve arrived in the world, the baby routine and milestone tracker will help you keep them well-rested and well-nourished!
“You can use Baby Diaries Plus to time contractions, and then you have the app ready to take photos of baby when it arrives. The app keeps track of baby’s sleep, feed (breast/bottle), nappies, milestones, photos, medical notes etc … I love it!” – Tara O’Connell
Want to know more?
Join the conservation over on our Facebook page and ask other mums what works for them… click below!
