In order to establish whether the maternity blues is peculiar to the puerperium a self-rating blues questionnaire was administered to women after childbirth and after surgery. A period of dysphoria, similar in many respects to the maternity blues, was experienced by women post-operatively. The main difference between maternity and post-operative patterns of dysphoria seemed to lie in the timing of the blues, but on closer analysis many post-operative dysphoric symptoms peaked in a similar way to those in the maternity group. In the search for the cause of the maternity blues it may be helpful to study the same parameters in post-operative dysphoria.