About Contraction Timer

It Started with a Pen and a Crumpled Piece of Paper

I was 38 weeks pregnant with my first baby when contractions started in the middle of the night. My husband was half asleep. I grabbed the closest thing I could find, a pen and the back of an old shopping list, and I started writing the times down. 2:14 AM. Stopped... when did it stop? I forgot to look. Started again at 2:23. Or was it 2:25? And then the pen ran out of ink.

By the time I had six contractions written down, I couldn't read my own handwriting. The numbers didn't make sense. I was trying to do math between waves of pain. Honestly, I just wanted someone to tell me if this was real labor or if I could go back to bed.

That night we went to the hospital too early. Got sent home. Classic first-time-mom move, I know. But it stuck with me. There had to be a simpler way to track contractions without doing mental arithmetic while your body is doing the most intense thing it's ever done.

So I Went Looking for a Solution

I started researching. Tried a few apps. Some were okay but cluttered with ads. Others wanted me to sign up for accounts I didn't need. One had so many buttons that I accidentally deleted my whole contraction history while having a contraction. Not ideal.

What I wanted was dead simple. One button. Press when it starts. Press when it stops. Show me the pattern. Tell me when things are getting serious. That's it. No accounts. No ads in my face while I'm in labor. No complicated menus.

I couldn't find exactly what I had in mind. So we built it.

From Timer to Labor Companion

The first version was just the contraction timer. Start, stop, done. But as I talked to more pregnant women, and as I went through my second pregnancy, I realized the hardest part of labor isn't the contractions themselves. It's the fear between them. The waiting. The silence at 4 AM when you're wondering if everything is okay.

That's when we added calming music and breathing guidance. Not clinical stuff, just gentle audio that gives your brain something to hold onto when panic wants to take over. Then came the hypnobirthing-inspired meditation tracks, because I'd tried hypnobirthing with my second baby and it genuinely changed how I experienced surges. It's not pain-free, let me be clear. But manageable. I felt like I had a tool, instead of just white-knuckling through it.

We added pregnancy meditations, breathing exercises for each stage of labor, and relaxation audio for those nights when your body is exhausted but your brain won't stop running worst-case scenarios. Because that's what pregnancy anxiety does. It shows up at bedtime, every time.

What Contraction Timer Is Today

Contraction Timer is a free app on iOS and Android that does exactly what it says. It tracks your contractions. It calculates averages. And it helps you figure out when it might be time to go to the hospital. But it also tries to keep you calm while you wait.

We added AI-powered analysis that learns your contraction pattern and sends you a notification when things reach the 5-1-1 threshold. Not because we think an app should make medical decisions for you (it absolutely should not), but because at 3 AM when you're alone and scared, having something say "your contractions are consistent, consider calling your provider" can be the nudge you need to take the next step.

The app also includes soothing music for labor, guided relaxation, and hypnobirthing-style audio. Because labor isn't just physical. The mental part is enormous, and most tools ignore it completely.

What We Believe

We're not trying to replace your doctor, your midwife, or your birth plan. We're trying to fill the gap between having contractions at home and arriving at the hospital. That in-between time feels lonely and confusing for a lot of women. It's usually hardest for first-time moms who don't know what "real" contractions feel like yet.

Your body knows what it's doing. Sometimes your mind just needs a little help to catch up.

If you have questions, feedback, or just want to tell us about your birth experience (we genuinely love hearing these), reach out at support@contractiontimer.io.

Thank you for trusting us with such an important moment.