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.

[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.

[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. :-)