Length of labour from first contraction or first REAL contraction??

[lestyrox]

I've been thinking about labour alot (although i still have a few months yet ) and i'm just curious to hear other mum's opinions on when labour REALLY starts. With my DS (first birth) i was induced due to GD. I had my waters broken and was hooked up to picotin at 8am, i had slight contractions all day (nothing painful) untill around 6pm (i remember because the simpsons was on in the common room in the maternity ward ) At 6pm i had my first painful contraction and from then on they got more and more intense (ended up with an epidural at 10pm ) and DS was born at 12:45am. SO from first entering the hospital and being induced at 8am to DS's birth at 12:45 was around 16hours. BUT from first PAINFUL contraction (or active labour as the midwives said) to birth was only about 6-7 hours.
So my question is, when referring to labour is it from first contraction or first REAL/PAINFUL/INTENSE contraction? When people ask i usually tell them my labour was 16hours, but now that i think of it was it really only 6hours?
I am curious because i've heard that second labours can be about half the length of a first labour so does that mean my second labour could be 8hours (half of 16) or 3 hours (half of 6)?????? I know every labour is different and you can't really put a time limit on them but i am curious to know what i'm in for this time round.
I am hoping to go into labour naturally this time (NO GD WOOOHOOOO!) so would that affect the length as well?
I have been practicing hypnobirthing techniques and if done correctly the mother isn't meant to feel pain as such but 'pressure/intense sensations'. So my worry is that if my first birth is classified as 6hours long, does that mean this one will be quite short..around 3-4 hours? I'm nervous that if i manage to do the hypnobirthing techniques correctly that i might not realise that i'm in REAL labour and i might leave it too late to call my SIL to watch DS while i give birth (she has to come from Sydney 3 hours away)
I'm probably being silly (sorry for the long post ) but its something thats on my mind and i'd like to try and mentally prepare myself a bit more this time (if thats possible lol)
What do other ladies think?
Was my labour 16hours or 6hours?
Do you think labour will be shorter this time? How short?

Sorry for all the questions i type how i think

[Visitor7]

I have always known it to be taken from first contraction. So, I would say your labour was 16 hours.
My first labour was 9 hours, my second was 6. You never know if it will be longer, the same length, or shorter. There are plenty of women who have longer labours second time round.

[Tobily]

This is kind of hard and you'll probably get a different answer from everyone

You're considered (by the hospital) to be in active labour at 4cm dilation with regular contractions. When the hospital records the length of your labour they usually do so from that point.

However - in first time mums especially it can take hours to get to that point. So this is where you start to hear about 30 hour labours etc - in women who have had labours that long from membranes rupturing/first contractions. For those women they count labour starting when their contractions become regular.

That's really the two ways of measuring it I guess - pain is a very subjective thing, and some women (they're rare but there are some) don't experience contractions that they would call painful for their whole labour - but you have to say they're in labour at some point

[Emma1979]

my first contractions were at 3pm on a friday, and she was born at 11.01pm on the saturday.... holy crap does that add up to 32 hours???

my first painful contractions were around 8pm, so that would make it 27 hours...

am hoping it goes ALOT quicker the next time

[Trillian]

I was always told it was measured from being the start of active labour to the birth of the baby. Second births may or may not be faster - there is no hard and fast rule to this. Often the 2nd stage of labour is faster because the first baby paved the way so to speak, but again it may be longer.

[Jac]

I was always told it was measured from being the start of active labour to the birth of the baby

When does labour become 'active labour' then (I should know this but have forgotten...)? Is this the 4cm that Tobily mentioned above? For me, that's when the real/painful contractions started and my baby was born 3 hours after that.

[2CheekyMonkeys]

i think you count your labour as beginning when you have 4 contractions in a minute or something along those lines.

oh jodi, just read your comment below mine... hehe yeah what i said above doesnt quite make sense does it?? LOL well i was in labour when i remember the midwife making some comment about how many contractions within a certain amount of time guess i forgot the exact details. :-)

[Visitor7]

That's a good question Jac. I was already 3cm dilated prior to going into labour (with me second). And when the first contraction started, it was pretty full on. So when would 'active labour' have started for me then?

ETA: 4 contractions in a minute?!! A contraction usually lasts between 30-60 seconds.

[BekZ]

I thought they counted labour from when your contractions become regular as in 3 good contractions over a 20 min period or some thing like that.

My first labour was 10 hours (7 hours first stage, 30mins transition and 1.5 hours second stage pushing). Second labour was 3 hours (2.5 hours regular contractions and 15 mins of sheer pain (2 pushs and she flew out)).

Not all labours are the same just like no two babies are the same. BTW a quick labour doesn't mean less painful either. I much prefered my first labour.

All the best and wishing you a wonderful birthing experience

[*Beema*]

Interesting.....

Waters broke (PPROM) @ 8pm (while driving)
1st contraction 8:30-8:40pm, were 5 min appart straight away, got to see the start of The Farmer wants a Wife (first episode!!)
Arrived at hospital, they asked we said 5 min (well were when we left home and forgot to time going in to hospital), but MW said 3min when we got to admission, got taken to delivery and internal done 9:40pm 8cm dialated, very full on from that point.
Nakita born 10:37pm

Was recorded on Nakita's Transfer summary sheet as:
1st Stage 2hr 05min
2nd Stage 17min
3rd Stage 3 min

[Trillian]

From about 4cm onwards is considered active labour. Often when women have weeks/days of pre-labour or early labour, they can have a reasonably short labour if all the hard work (where the cervix thins and effaces and dilates to 4cm) is already done. But again, there are no rules in birth, it happens as it happens. Baby's position, somestimes also their size and how active the labour is can all affect the overall length of it.

[Visitor3]

my first contractions were at 3pm on a friday, and she was born at 11.01pm on the saturday.... holy crap does that add up to 32 hours???

my first painful contractions were around 8pm, so that would make it 27 hours...

am hoping it goes ALOT quicker the next time

Oh my lord Emma you're a trooper !!!

[loulabelle]

That's a hard one! both answers are correct I think.
From my first contraction to the birth of my Son my labour was 51.5 hours.I always say that.Although the contractions didn't become intense until about 10 hours later, so 41.5 hours? Hopefully my next is faster!!
Goodluck with Hypnobirthing.x

[Nadine]

Hmmm...

From the first "period like" pains (at 1am) my labour was 32 hours.

But the pains I had to concentrate on and breathe through started at 2pm, so that would make it 19hrs.

I wasn't 3cm dialated untill about 10pm , and DD was born at 9:15am.

So who knows LOL. For me it was long anyway.

[lestyrox]

Thanks for the replies everyone! Seems like its quite a hard question. I guess all i can do is go into my next labour with a positive attitude and a clear head (i'm using hypnobirthing to try and get over my fears of going through labour again)
I've heard that you're classified as being in real labour when active labour begins but it seems its a little unclear as to when that happens. I know at 6pm i started finding it hard to talk through contractions and they started getting really intense and painful but i didn't reach 4cm dialated untill about 10pm (thats when i asked for the epidural, the thought of having to go through hours of pain to get to 10cm when i was already in excrusiating pain scared the hell outa me!) So i think i was definitly in REAL labour before 4cm. I'd been getting regular contractions since about lunchtime that day so maybe thats when 'real' labour started?? Who knows
Looking back on it now i think with all the intervention my body didn't have a chance to relax and just do what its meant to do. I know relaxing made a BIG difference because when i had the epidural i went from 4cm to birthing my boy in 2hours 45mins. I'm not a fan of epidurals but i think that it gave me a chance to get on top of things. I'm really hoping to use my hypnobirthing this time round and go el natural!
Thanks again for the responses, i'll let you know how long this labour was in a few months!

[satya]

When I arrived at hospital they recorded the start of my labour as being when I had regular painful contractions. For me this was 6 hours before I got to hospital and I was 6cms dilated at that time. I gave birth 11 hours later so they called that 17 hours of labour. Before the regular contractions I'd had about 18 hours of pre labour as well.

Have a look at your discharge papers (or your baby's) and you will see how long they classed your labour.

[Trillian]

You can still have very real, very painful contractions before you get to about 4cm - the cervix has to work so hard to get to that point considering how much has to happen - the cervix has to shorten if it hasn't already done so, it has to thin out to paper thin and then it has to become fully effaced. THEN it has to start to dilate - there is so much work for it to do.

ETA - Plus a lot of multipara's (women who are on subsequent pg's) will often be a little dilated or have a very soft cervix for some time before labour starts as well)

[Olive]

mine from when waters broke to DD been born was 36 hrs, active labour was 7.5 hrs