When labor starts, the math is what gets confusing. Contractions feel intense in the moment, but the question your provider asks is not "are they strong" but "what is the pattern." Five minutes apart, one minute long, for one full hour is the standard threshold for heading to the hospital with a first baby, and trying to track that on a kitchen clock while breathing through a contraction is the wrong moment to be doing math. A contraction timer app does the math for you, logs each contraction with one tap, and shows the average interval and duration over the last hour at a glance. Below are the five contraction timers most labor and delivery nurses see on patient phones in 2026, with the trade-offs for free versus paid features, partner sharing, and broader pregnancy tracking.
Quick comparison
| App | Best fit | Standout feature | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Term | Pure contraction timing | Two-tap interface | Free |
| Contraction Timer & Counter | First-time mothers | Auto 5-1-1 alert | Free |
| Glow Birth Tracker | Cycle to birth users | Integrated history | Freemium |
| Ovia Pregnancy | Full pregnancy tracking | Daily tips with timer | Free |
| Sprout Pregnancy | Visual interface fans | 3D fetal model included | Paid |
Full Term - Best Pure Contraction Timer
Full Term is the app most labor and delivery nurses point patients at when asked. It does one thing and does it cleanly: a giant button starts a contraction, the same button ends it, and the screen shows the duration, interval to the previous contraction, and a running average over the last hour. No ads in the middle of a contraction, no pop-ups asking for ratings, no upsells.
The history view shows every contraction in a stacked list with timestamps, useful both for tracking progress and for reading back to your provider on the phone. An email export sends a clean summary your partner or doctor can scan in seconds.
Trade-off: it is intentionally narrow. There is no pregnancy week-by-week feature, no kick counter, no due date countdown. If you want one app for the whole pregnancy, this is not it.
Best for: the actual day of labor, when you want zero friction and a single big button to tap.
Contraction Timer & Counter - Best for First-Time Mothers
Contraction Timer & Counter adds a 5-1-1 alert layer that Full Term leaves out. When the rolling pattern hits five minutes apart, lasting at least one minute, and holds steady for an hour, the app raises a clear "time to call your provider" banner. For a first-time mother who is not sure what the pattern is supposed to look like, this removes the second-guessing.
The interface uses a large color-coded button that turns red during a contraction and green between them, which is easier to track in a dim room at 3 AM than smaller controls.
Trade-off: the free tier shows banner ads. They are placed below the action area and not over the button, but they exist. A small one-time purchase removes them.
Best for: first-time labor where you want the app itself to tell you "this is now the 5-1-1 pattern."
Glow Birth Tracker - Best for Existing Glow Users
Glow's contraction timer is built into the same app many users already use for cycle tracking and pregnancy tracking. The advantage is continuity: your full pregnancy history, kick counts, weight log, and symptoms all live next to the contraction timer, and the labor session adds to that record. If you already opened Glow every day for nine months, you do not need to learn a new app on the most overwhelming day.
The timer itself is competent, with start and stop buttons, interval and duration tracking, and an export. Glow also includes a contraction intensity slider (mild, moderate, strong) which not all timers offer.
Trade-off: ads in the free tier and a steady push toward Glow Premium. The contraction timer itself is free either way.
Best for: anyone already in the Glow ecosystem who wants one less app to learn.
Ovia Pregnancy - Best for Full Pregnancy Tracking with a Built-in Timer
Ovia Pregnancy is the app many employer-sponsored maternity benefits programs distribute, so a large share of users have it installed already. The contraction timer is one feature among many, sitting next to daily fetal development articles, weekly belly photo prompts, and a symptom tracker. The timer is straightforward, with start, stop, and an automatic interval calculator.
The export is solid and the in-app messaging to share with a partner works without leaving the app. The daily content keeps the app open often enough that you are not hunting for it when labor starts.
Trade-off: the wider Ovia experience leans on data collection for its business model. The contraction timer itself is fine, but the broader app is more product-marketing-heavy than a single-purpose timer.
Best for: users already tracking pregnancy in Ovia who do not want a separate dedicated timer.
Sprout Pregnancy - Best Visual Interface
Sprout Pregnancy is the polished paid option, with a 3D fetal model that updates by week and one of the cleanest contraction timer interfaces in the category. The timer view is uncluttered, the history list is easy to read aloud to a triage nurse, and the export sends a PDF summary rather than plain text.
Sprout was an early entry in the category and still gets steady updates. The paid model means no ads and no upsells, which during contractions is genuinely worth a few dollars.
Trade-off: it costs money upfront where the others are free. The fetal model and design polish are nice but do not affect labor outcomes.
Best for: users who want a polished paid app and value the no-ads experience on labor day.
How to choose
For pure labor-day use, install Full Term as a clean backup. It is free, it does one thing, and it works without a network connection if cell service is weak. If you want the app to actively tell you when 5-1-1 has been reached, Contraction Timer & Counter is the better single-purpose pick. If you already have Glow or Ovia open daily for pregnancy tracking, use the timer built into the app you know.
The general advice from labor and delivery nurses is to have a contraction timer installed before week 36 and to do one practice run during a Braxton Hicks tightening to confirm you know which button to press. The wrong moment to learn an interface is the moment you actually need it.
For more on labor prep, see our hospital bag checklist, comparing pregnancy tracking apps, and our review methodology.
Frequently asked questions
When should I start using a contraction timer?+
Start the timer when contractions feel regular and noticeable, not at the first twinge. Early labor often shows scattered tightening every 15 to 30 minutes that fades when you walk around. Once contractions come in a clear rhythm of every 10 minutes or less and feel strong enough that you stop talking through them, start timing. Most hospitals want to see the 5-1-1 pattern (every 5 minutes, lasting 1 minute, for 1 hour) before they admit a first-time mother.
What does the 5-1-1 rule actually mean?+
Five minutes apart, one minute long, for one full hour. The five is measured from the start of one contraction to the start of the next, not from the end of one to the start of the next. The one minute is duration of a single contraction from start to peak to end. The one hour means this pattern has held steady for 60 minutes, not a single 10 minute window. Good contraction timer apps calculate all three automatically.
Are contraction timer apps accurate enough for medical decisions?+
They are accurate enough to decide when to call your provider or head to the hospital, but they do not replace clinical assessment. The apps simply record what you tap, so accuracy depends on you starting and stopping the timer at the actual start and end of each contraction. Use the app to track the pattern, then let your nurse or midwife confirm in person whether labor is progressing.
Should I time contractions during early labor or only active labor?+
You can time both, but the data only matters once contractions become regular. Early labor contractions are often irregular and timing them can create anxiety with no useful conclusion. Once contractions feel rhythmic and strong, that is when timing starts producing the pattern your provider needs to hear. Many apps let you mark a session as early labor or active labor to keep the data clean.
Can a contraction timer share data with my partner or doctor?+
Most of the top contraction timer apps include either a share-to-message function or an email export. Full Term, Contraction Timer & Counter, and Ovia all let you send a clean summary with the average interval, duration, and intensity from the last hour. This is useful when your partner is en route from work or when you call the on-call midwife and need to read the numbers off the screen.
Priya Sharma
Priya Sharma writes for The Tested Hub.