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The Apgar score is a quick way for health professionals to evaluate the health of all newborns at 1 and 5 minutes after birth and in response to resuscitation. [1] It was originally developed in 1952 by an anesthesiologist at Columbia University, Virginia Apgar, to address the need for a standardized way to evaluate infants shortly after birth.
It consists of the assessment of heart rate, respiratory effort, muscle tone, reflex irritability, and generalized skin color. Apgar scoring is performed one minute and five minutes after birth. Scoring ranges from 0 to 10, with 0 indicating severe neonatal distress and 10 indicating a smooth transition to extrauterine life. [1]
In 1952, she developed the 10-point Apgar score to assist physicians and nurses in assessing the status of newborns. Given at one minute and five minutes after birth, the Apgar test measures a child's breathing, skin color, reflexes, [6] motion, and heart rate. A friend said, "She probably did more than any other physician to bring the problem ...
A score of 7–10 at 5 minutes is normal, a score of 4 to 6 at 5 minutes is intermediate, and a score of 0-3 is considered low. It is important to understand that an Apgar score is not a diagnosis, it is merely a clinical finding. [9] If a newborns score is 0–3, then resuscitation efforts are initiated. Apgar score for newborn infants
An infant with severe perinatal asphyxia usually has poor color , perfusion, responsiveness, muscle tone, and respiratory effort, as reflected in a low 5 minute Apgar score. Extreme degrees of asphyxia can cause cardiac arrest and death. If resuscitation is successful, the infant is usually transferred to a neonatal intensive care unit.
In 1952, the anesthesiologist Dr. Virginia Apgar developed the Apgar score, used for standardized assessment of infants immediately upon delivery, to guide further steps in resuscitation if necessary. [7] The first dedicated neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) was established at Yale-Newhaven Hospital in Connecticut in 1965. [8]
The newborn is evaluated at 1 and 5 minutes after birth using the Apgar score, which assigns points based on appearance (color), pulse, grimace (cry), activity (muscle tone), and respiration (breathing effort), with each component scored from 0 to 2. A healthy baby at birth usually has an Apgar score of 8 or 9.
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