lying-in
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˈlaɪɪŋ ɪn/
- Archaic
:
parto
- The mothers of the subjects had all been recruited while they were receiving prenatal care at the Boston Lying-In Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.
Examples
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(taken from Rich Johnston's Lying in the Gutters)
Blog text (2) -
The place: the lying-in room.
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But for the sake of the child, she must begin her lying-in immediately.
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Whilst I was lying in bed, the contractions were less frequent and further apart.
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In the charity ward of a lying-in hospital in Dublin.
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She then retires for her lying in, which is usually about a month before a woman believes she'll give birth, and so she waits, and then she waits, and she waits some more and nothing happens.
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The hospital provided a comfortable environment for her lying-in, ensuring she received the care she needed during childbirth.
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After many hours of labor, she was grateful to finally be in the lying-in room, where she could focus on delivering her baby.
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During her lying-in period, she received support from family members to help her adjust to life with a newborn.
Synonyms
204
3.5
A woman's time of having a baby, from the first pains to the baby being born
4
7.6
The time from when a woman begins labor until she gives birth
The time when a woman gives birth and the period just after birth
The time when a person or animal gives birth
Surface Forms
Morphology
lying-in = lying (semi-transparent) = in + lie + ing
The components 'lying' + 'in' suggest being in bed, which hints at postpartum bed rest, but the specialised historical meaning 'the process of childbirth/period after birth' is idiomatic and not fully predictable for learners. [Postprocessing: moved 'in' from base_words to prefix]
Etymology
Lying-in comes from the words lying ('to lie down' or 'to stay in bed') and in ('inside'), because women used to stay in bed during and after childbirth. So, lying-in now refers to the childbirth process or the time of bed rest after a baby is born.