How do you calculate how long your labour was?

[MidnightSun]

I have heard some people say 4 hours, others say 36 for example... are all of these people counting from the same point or not?? Is there a hard and fast rule of when to count from?

Do you count from when contractions first started, or what? People have asked me and I am just like 'errrrmmm' ...

 

[Charlotte-j]

I just go with what the hospital say on my forms lol! I think its from a certain cm dialated. Not 100% sure.

Eta: on my old notes my hospital put it as first regular contraction is the start,

 

[leoniebabey]

mine was 12 hours from 1st contraction or 5 hours from waters breaking (at 4/5cm)
i just say 12 hours

 

[KayBea]

I dont know but ide be intrested in this too as i got to hosp at 9cm and was pushing within 5 mins of arriving.. So from the start of pushing it would of been a 40min labour,
But if they start from my first contraction it would be 11hrs but my hosp notes said 7hrs..
:S
X

 

[sept2010]

My hosp asked me when contractions started gettin regular and worked out how long labour was from that.. Evn though i was gettin contractions few days earlier that stopped and started.. That doesnt count

 

[MidnightSun]

It's very confusing isn't it. If I count from my first contraction it's a 16 and a half hour labour.

If I count from when they got intense it's 8 and a half hours.

If I count from when my waters broke it's 5 and a half hours!

I wish there was a general rule of thumb!

 

[kmac625]

I was induced so I just count from when the pitocin drip started as my contractions started very quickly after that point.

 

[Kimboowee]

I asked this at the hospital as my first baby I was 3 cms for 9 days! They said they normally count it from when they check you and your 3+cms, my first labour was counted from when I was in agony and 8cms, my 2nd when I was 3-4cms!

 

[Mel+Bump]

I was induced and they put my labour as starting when I went down to labour ward around 2/3cm. It was noted down as 5 hours from then till her being born via section.

If it was to go from the contractions being regular Id have put my labour as 9 hours.

 

[JWandBump]

7hours (if you count from first contraction) but didn't know I was in labour for about 4 hours (because they diddnt hurt and felt like back ache to me)

 

[Jellycat]

I've always said from 4 cms as that's what our hospital claimed was active labour.
Mine was 12 hours

If counted from waters breaking and first contraction it was 21 hours

 

[stardust599]

I don't know, mine was an induction

From 1st contraction around 24hours
From regular contractions (when they were around 1-2mins apart) around 17hours
From waters being ruptured by DR 9 hours
From pitocin drip being started around 6hours

i normally go with the 17hour one since that was the start of real labour - long painful regular contractions with little time in between and past 4cm dilated xx

 

[QueenMummyToBe]

First labour time was measured from 4cm onwards, it took 24 hours.
Second labour, I went in at 2.20/2.30am, didn't get checked until 5.30 and was 5cm and I gave birth at 7.34am.
However on my notes they put I was in labour from 4.30am onwards!

xXx

 

[CharlieKeys]

If I count from when my hind waters broke/contractions started then it would be 41.5hrs (but the contractions were very on and off!!).... if I count 'established labour' which is when my contractions became regular then it would be 4.5 hrs (which is what it says in my labour summary sheet)

 

[bathbabe]

If i go by the start of my:
contractions - 10.5hours
'Established labour' (3cm) - 2hours
Established labour + pushing - 2hrs 51mins
Waters breaking - 2weeks

I just say about 10 hours

 

[R J 1980]

My recent labor was easy to figure out- contractions started at 4am and I had LO at 8:04, so 4 hours!

My first labor I have no idea how long it was... I was 4 centimeters dilated for over a week, so it's not that lol. My waters started leaking at 8pm, I started pitocin at 2am, but I didn't start getting contractions until around 5am when the doc broke the rest of my waters. Had the baby at 8:40am. So I have no idea!

 

[welshmummy2be]

mine isnt exactly acurate as i had an emergency c-section but if i calculated from first regular contraction it be just under 9 hours...although i was in slow labour for a week with irregular contractions and lost my plug aprox 16 hours before c-section. xx

 

[Rmar]

Dialation isn't really the greatest indicator so they now seem to go by when contractions were regular, not necessarily 3-4 mins apart. On my notes it says from 5:30am onwards because that was when I started having contractions that were regularly 5-6 mins apart. Some people never have regular contractions so then it is usually when they couldn't do regular tasks anymore and started having to breath through them. In the end, it is only for doccumentation purposes so it is up to you when you count labour starting. I usually say that it got intense at 11:30am and she was born at 2:07pm. Before that, I could walk, talk and all other kinds of things except I knew something was happening.

 

[ttammie98]

I count from the time real contractions started. I got induced both times so it took some time for "real" contractions to begin. The medicine took some time to start my contractions.

 

[punk_pig]

I was having regular contractions for 36hrs before hospital agreed I was in labour (4cm). When I had gone in after 12hrs regular contractions they told me I wasn't in labour as was only 1cm.

My hospital forms say in labour for 10hrs 21 mins but that makes no sense as at that time I was back at home having got stuck at 5cm for a whole day and night, so I have no idea where they got that from.

So by my count from early contractions 94hrs or from established labour 58hrs.