Newborn plasma catecholamine levels are elevated compared to fetal life. Whether this reflects increased catecholamine secretion after birth or decreased clearance is not known. To determine the plasma appearance and clearance rates for catecholamines during the transition to postnatal life, we compared plasma epinephrine appearance and clearance rates in fetal sheep before birth and in newborns after delivery. Plasma epinephrine appearance and clearance rates were measured by radiotracer analysis in eight fetuses at 127 +/- 1 days of gestation and, after cesarean delivery, at 130 +/- 1 days of gestation. There was no difference in plasma epinephrine appearance rate during the fetal (26 +/- 4 ng.kg-1 x min-1) or newborn studies (31 +/- 5 ng.kg-1 x min-1). The fetal plasma epinephrine clearance rate (131 +/- 13 ml.kg-1 x min-1) was significantly higher than newborn plasma epinephrine clearance rate (40 +/- 3 ml.kg-1 x min-1). Thus fetal plasma epinephrine appearance rate is not different from appearance rate in the immediate newborn period when catecholamine levels are higher than during most other physiological circumstances. The increase in circulating catecholamine levels at birth is due in part to a significant decrease in clearance rate. It is likely that removal of the placental contribution to whole body clearance accounts for much of the difference observed in fetal and newborn clearance rates.