She’s here!

We are so proud to announce the launch of the newest addition to our growing family of positive birth apps - the GentleBirth Surge Timer - sister app to the GentleBirth Hypnobirthing App.

There was some interesting new research published recently on the use of contraction timers.

"Women who used an app were significantly more likely to be admitted in more advanced labour"

Most participants were admitted at first attendance (n=561/720, 77.9%), of which the majority were non-app users, however this was not statistically significant ꭓ²(3, n=720)6.76, p=0.08 (Table 3)."

"Measuring frequency alone led them to attend the hospital too early, and retrospectively they realised their contractions were not strong enough. These responses may suggest women might not be receiving adequate information antenatally regarding the importance of contraction strength. Alternatively, they may be aware, however available apps are limited in providing functions to monitor this."

Midwife Developed

The GentleBirth Contraction Timer is the first ever contraction timer created by a Midwife and the first contraction timer to include reassuring audio guidance for each contraction based on strength of contractions as well as the length of time spent tracking those sensations.

It’s perfect for hypnobirthing and non-hypnobirthing parents. Take a look at the special features, amazing features and what I call our ‘wow’ features.

Special Features

Choose tailored audio guidance for every surge. Maybe you prefer the soothing background music, naturescapes or maybe you prefer silence.
Integrated to use with your GentleBirth App labor sessions.
Capture important information such as when your waters release.
Set notifications based on your personal preferences such as the 4-1-1 rule if you plan to stay at home for as long as possible.
Share your progress with your healthcare professional and doula.
If you forget to stop the timer the surge counter will automatically pause at 2 minutes and you can simply delete that surge or change the timing.

Amazing Features

For most people Braxton Hicks (warm up) surges don’t intensify over time. Use the simple rating scale to see if the strength of those sensations is increasing and whether they seem to be warm ups or the real deal. This ‘rating’ feature also tailors your surge audio guidance based on the intensity so as your surges change in intensity - so does your audio guidance. Once in an established pattern of labor you can skip this feature if you’ve found your rhythm. You’ll also receive reminder ‘nudges’ midwives and doulas around the world use in labor to remind you to stay hydrated, change position and go to the bathroom during the audio guidance based on how long you’ve been tracking surges.

If your waters release at home we’ll ask you some questions about that experience - if there’s anything out of the ordinary and not considered normal we’ll suggest you contact your careprovider.

Wow Features!

If you’re being induced with a ripening medicine at home it’s important that your uterus has time to rest between surges so your baby is gets plenty of oxygenated blood. A one minute break of resting time between surges is recommended. If the time between your surges is less than 1 minute we’ll suggest you notify your careprovider. If you’re in hospital and being induced or having your labor accelerated with Pitocin or Syntocinon our timer will also keep an eye on those breaks and will suggest you notify your careprovider about the labor pattern you’re experiencing. Think of it as having an extra set of expert eyes in the room with you when your care provider is out of the room.

The GentleBirth Contraction Timer is available on the App Store and GooglePlay store.

Can’t wait to hear your thoughts!

Tracy.

PS - Quick note about why it’s called Contraction Timer and not Surge Timer in the app stores. When naming an app it helps to use words that people search for regularly. Unfortunately ‘contraction’ ranks higher than ‘surge’ in app search engines so we had to go with the most popular word. But as you’ll see the gentle language within the app very much compliments the GentleBirth approach.

Hello!