True and False Childbirth Some mothers sometimes have the illusion of childbirth, or have irregular uterine contractions. Generally speaking, it is difficult to distinguish between true and false childbirth. Usually the contractions of false labor are irregular and not as strong as those of true labor. The way to distinguish is to check the vagina and look for changes in the cervix. There is also a uterine contraction timing, which calculates the time interval between two consecutive uterine contractions and continues to record it for an hour. The table below lists the actual births