lying-in

lying-in (plural lying-ins or lyings-in)

1. The final stages of pregnancy; accouchement.
   • 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society, published 1973, page 404:

     from our first knowing each other, which was soon after my lying-in, we were almost inseparable companions […]

2. A period of postpartum confinement, typically a month or longer, formerly common in Europe and still practiced in some parts of the world.
   • 1995, Meredith Borthwick, transl., Many Lives, Kukrit Pramoj, pages 177–8:

     As she lay by the birth-fire, she gazed on the face of the child asleep in the bamboo cradle […] Once free from the lying-in, Linchong set herself to bringing up the baby.

lying-in (not comparable)

1. of, or relating to childbirth or postpartum confinement

• Linying, inlying