Stupid question about contractions

[uurrghhhhhh]

At my antenatal class we do ways to cope and pretend contractions.

So we have about 60 seconds of practice.

It has just occurred to me does that mean contractions last around 60 seconds and its just the time between them that gets shorter?

I always thought contractions could last a random amount of time

I think they vary a bit in time person to person, but a minute is a good rough guide for practice, and yes you are right it is the time in between that gets shorter, the length of the contractions doesn't vary that much. The intensity of them increases though.
I seem to remember mine being a fairly consistent 45 seconds for all of my labours.
HTH

Super. Thank you. I thought that must be the case, otherwise why would she get us to practice the 60 second contraction? ! But no one has ever told me that. I have been very unaware a lot of this pregnancy- thank god for mumsnet! I fear midwives etc forget to tell you the small, seemingly obvious stuff.

That nugget of information has made me feel a lot more positive- thank you

Mine all lasted around a minute. I used to focus on timing them and once I was down to 30 seconds i'd think 'right I'm half way through!'

I think it's very variable do go with how you feel.
'Active labour' isn't until contractions are 1 minute long and 3 minutes apart - mine didn't get that close at home, only every 5, but we're gaining intensity so I begged the hospital to see me ( was told they'd send me straight home) only to find out I was 6 cm with nothing more than a bath and paracetamol at home!

We did a hypnobirthing thing thingy in ante natal yoga where she read a passage about climbing a hill and it getting harder and harder and then youre at the top and down the other side. It's written to be the length of an average contraction. It really helped me. I remember thinking at the time oh yes nearly at the top of the hill :)

Maybe Google for it??