PIP: To assess the relationship of morbidity to the time interval between delivery and puerperal tubal ligation, 76 women were studied after receiving a tubal ligation. The women were divided into 4 subgroups relating to the time interval of the tubal ligation after delivery from 12-108 hours. Morbidity was defined as (1) puerperal morbidity: a temperature of 100.4 degrees F which occurs on any 2 of the first 10 post-partum days, and (2) other morbidity: a temperature of greater than 100 degrees F on any 1 of the first 10 post-partum days. Endometrial and tubal specimens were taken and tested for the presence of bacteria. In addition, tubal specimens were tested for salpingitis, edema, and perivascular infiltrate. There was no correlation between the time interval and post-operative morbidity. Positive endometrial cultures were found in 39.5% of the patients involved, and positive tubal cultures in 28.9%, which showed no correlation with time delay. There was significantly less histologic salpingitis in cases done within 36 hours after delivery. There was a correlation between salpingitis and positive tubal cultures. Post-operative morbidity did not correlate with either abnormal tubal histology or positive tubal cultures.