One hundred fifty females admitted consecutively during the months of May and April 1987 during the "Lebanon Wars" to the delivery suite at Saint-Georges Hospital, Beirut, were interviewed using a structured questionnaire (DIS). This study was one of the pilot studies of our later initiated studies on depression in Lebanon. The study was conducted in two phases: the first on the second port-delivery day (1987) the second one year later. The prevalence of major depression in these females was found to be : 31.3% lifetime, 10% during pregnancy and 10.9% during one year follow-up. Lifetime depression increased with the number of children in the household. Depression during pregnancy was found to be inversely related to economic and educational levels.