The safety of the use of dexmedetomidine on neonatal outcome is a very important issue. Experimental study on acute exposure of rats to dexmedetomidine at the anticipated delivery time recorded absence of any adverse effects on perinatal morphology of pups, their birth weight, crown-rump length, physical growth and postnatal behavioural performances. Others studied the transfer of clonidine and dexmedetomidine across the isolated perfused human placenta. Dexmedetomidine disappeared faster than clonidine from the maternal circulation, while even less dexmedetomidine was transported into the fetal circulation. This was due to its greater placental tissue retention, the basis for which probably is the higher lipophilicity of dexmedetomidine.