Dictionary.net

Couches, (F.), from coucher, to lie down. This word is used, 1. For parturition, accouchement or delivery (puerperium, parturitio;) hence, une couche heureuse, a happy delivery; une fausse couche, a premature delivery: and, 2. For the time during which a female remains in bed on account of delivery, - Tempus puerperii, the child-bed state. The Lochia have been termed Suites de couches. Couche also means a layer, bed or thalamus, as,