One question that many fathers have is how far apart should a pregnant woman's contractions be before going to the hospital?

For most normal pregnancies with no extenuating circumstances, doctors will tell you that you should not come to the hospital until contractions are 5 minutes apart for an hour.

However, you or the expectant mother should personally check with her doctor to make sure they agree with this estimate. There may be concerns which may cause them to increase or decrease this estimate. Other considerations include how far you live from where you will be delivering, i.e., can you get there quickly if you wait too long, or should you leave sooner if you live far away.

Another big consideration is that if your partner is admitted with false labor, your health insurance company will charge you a co-pay or deductible for the false start as well as the real thing. Depending on your insurance, this will be hundreds of dollars, if not over a thousand. If you don't have health insurance, it could cost you more out of pocket. So make sure you check with you doctor first and do some investigating into the policies of the hospital and the insurance company.