Dr Christa explains your baby’s first test…
Many times in the delivery room or theatre I am asked what the baby’s score is. Every parent, first time or other, seem to know that there is a test but often do not understand the meaning of the APGAR score.
The APGAR scare was devised by a Paediatrician, Dr Virginia Apgar, to assess the immediate condition of a newborn baby and to identify those little ones that might need help or resuscitation after birth.
The score is made up by the assessment of 5 parameters at 1 minute and again at 5 minutes after birth. This could be done by either a Paediatrician or midwife who is present at the birth. Appearance, Pulse, Grimace or reaction to stimuli, Activity or muscle tone and Respiration, are assessed and a score allocated depending on the condition of the baby.
A score at 1 minute of 7 and above is normal, and indicates that the baby is doing well adapting to life outside the womb. Those babies do not need resuscitation or any intervention.
If a score of less than 7 is allocated at 1 minute, this would indicate that the baby needs help. That might be just rubbing the baby down and stimulating spontaneous breathing or administering oxygen via bag and mask, or in certain conditions, might necessitate the placement of a breathing tube in those infants that have severe respiratory distress.
The 5 minute APGAR score would look at exactly the same parameters and would then be an indication of how the baby responded to the interventions offered.
A 5 minute APGAR of 7 and above would be satisfactory and deemed normal.
I must stress that the 1 and 5 minute scores doesn’t have any direct correlation with intelligence, neurological development or subsequent academic performance in later years.
If a baby is in severe and serious distress and needs to be resuscitated for longer than 20 minutes, additional scores will be allocated at 10 and 20 minutes. In these cases, a low score at 20 minutes can at times correlate to poor neurological outcome and development.
Xoxo
Dr Christa
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