Nearly Here

For the big day, and everyone waiting for it.

Nearly Here times contractions on iPhone and Apple Watch, and keeps your people close. One tap tells everyone. Your birth partner sees every contraction live. And when the baby comes, the first photo lands on their Lock Screens.

Coming soon to theApp Store See how a labour looks
Grandma's phone, the night Sarah's baby arrives.

How a labour looks with Nearly Here

Sarah's having a baby, and Tom's her birth partner. Here's their day, and what everyone waiting at home sees.

  1. Weeks before

    Bring your people in

    Send your birth partner and family a code. They download Nearly Here for free, ask to follow, and you let each person in. Nobody joins just by having the code.

    E9PB-4Z49

  2. 02:40

    "Things have started"

    One tap tells the whole circle at once, and the timer takes over. No group chat to write, no one left out.

  3. All night

    Every contraction, timed and shared

    Tap on your iPhone or Watch as each one starts and stops. The screen glows softly in time with a slow breath, and the Watch taps your wrist to breathe along. Tom sees every contraction live on his own Lock Screen, and can send updates for her.

  4. 06:15

    Your own messages

    Some news isn't a milestone. Write "Epidural's in" or "Having a rest" once, choose an icon, and send it with a tap from your phone or Watch.

    • Having a cuppa
    • Having a rest
    • Epidural's in

  5. 11:58

    Baby's here, with the first photo

    Add a photo to the news and it shows on everyone's Lock Screen, not lost in a busy chat. It's encrypted on your phone and deleted from our server after a week.

  6. 12:05

    The love comes back

    Family press and hold the notification to send "Sending love", "You've got this" or "Congratulations!" without opening the app. You won't get a buzz for each one. Every so often, a quiet "6 people sent love" waits for you.

    6 people sent love ❤️

A timer built for the hard part

For whoever's holding the phone, or wearing the Watch.

On the Watch, on its own
Times every contraction with no phone nearby, with a tap or a double tap, and catches up with the iPhone later.
Mistakes are easy to fix
Undo any tap for ten seconds. Started late? Turn the Digital Crown to say it began earlier.
Your unit, a tap away
Save your maternity unit's number once. It's on every screen, beside NHS advice on when to call.
A reminder you set
Enter the pattern your midwife gave you, and get one reminder when your times match it.
Ready for the call
Your due date, hospital number and the rest on one screen, for when the labour line asks.
A summary for your midwife
Share the pattern as text, or export the whole log as a spreadsheet.
Lock Screen and Siri
A Live Activity with its own Start and Stop, and "Time a contraction in Nearly Here".
Your words
Contractions or surges. The app uses whichever you choose.

Free to start, one unlock for everyone

No subscription. Your birth partner and family never pay to follow.

What's free and what the unlock adds
FeatureFreeUnlock£9.99 once
Contraction timer, breathing guide and when-to-call advice✓✓
Your birth partner, following live and sending updates✓✓
Reactions and your own messages✓✓
Your whole family in your circle–✓
Photos with your news–✓
The Apple Watch app–✓
Export your log–✓

Shared with your household through Family Sharing.

Private by design

No account, no adverts and no tracking. Your timings stay on your iPhone and Watch. Updates, photos and reactions are encrypted on your phone before they leave it, so only the people you let in can read them. Not us, and not Apple.

Our server is in the EU and holds as little as it can. Photos go after a week, and ending your labour's link deletes everything straight away.

Read the privacy policy

Questions?

The support page answers the common ones, and has a way to get in touch.

Go to support