twilight sleep

American  

noun

Medicine/Medical.

1. a state of semiconsciousness, usually produced by hypodermic injections of scopolamine and morphine, used chiefly to effect relatively painless childbirth.

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twilight sleep British  

noun

1. med a state of partial anaesthesia in which the patient retains a slight degree of consciousness

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Etymology

Origin of twilight sleep

First recorded in 1910–15

Example Sentences

When she rejected anesthesia because she wanted to be awake for the birth, she was placed in restraints and put into “twilight sleep.”

From New York Times

They’re going to put me in a type of twilight sleep, something I experienced about four years ago when I had to have an endoscopy for my acid reflux.

From The Guardian

But when it came time for childbirth they also were experiencing a state akin to the Twilight Zone - that is, twilight sleep.

From Washington Times

For a few decades in the early 20th century, mothers were given a drug cocktail, including opioids, to induce “twilight sleep,” and the child was frequently delivered using forceps.

From Washington Post

It’s twilight sleep; an Ambien catnap; an evening voyage on a Watteau barge.

From The New Yorker