What is an APGAR score?

What is an Apgar score? It is a tool used to assess the health of a newborn immediately after birth. It was developed by Dr. Virginia Apgar (pictured), an American obstetrical anesthesiologist, who had extensively researched and investigated infant mortality rates and causes. Dr. Apgar noticed that the number of infant deaths within the first 24 hours after birth in the U.S. were not decreasing, even though the infant mortality rate had been (between the 1930s and 1950s). Her studies pertaining to these numbers led to her development of the Apgar test. This test, created in 1952, became a standardized scoring system used to evaluate a newborn’s health after birth. The test includes five categories: heart rate, respiration, color, muscle tone, and reflex irritability. Each category is measured and given a score of 0 (distress), 1, or 2 (optimal condition). The individual categories are then combined to total a final score from 0-10. Typically, the test is done one minute and then five minutes after birth, with additional tests at five-minute increments, if necessary. Below, find the meaning of the individual scores in each category, taken from https://americanpregnancy.org/labor-and-birth/apgar-test/.
Heart rate:
0 – No heart rate
1 – Fewer than 100 beats per minute indicates that the baby is not very responsive
2 – More than 100 beats per minute indicates that the baby is vigorous
Respiration:
0 – Not breathing
1 – Weak cry–may sound like whimpering or grunting
2 – Good, strong cry
Muscle tone:
0 – Limp
1 – Some flexing (bending) of arms and legs
2 – Active motion
Reflex response:
0 – No response to airways being stimulated
1 – Grimace during stimulation
2 – Grimace and cough or sneeze during stimulation
Color:
0 – The baby’s entire body is blue or pale
1 – Good color in body but with blue hands or feet
2 – Completely pink or good color


Post by Andie Wise