On June 7th, 109 years ago Dr Virginia Apgar was born. She is well known American anesthesiologist for creating the 'Apgar Score' that determines the health of a newborn baby. Being the first female professor at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (P&S) in 1949, she eventually had grabbed many commendable accolades. It was a time when infant mortality rate was quite high. Her distinguished invention of the “Apgar Score” added a new dimension to the field of neonatology. She had co-authored a book named “Is my baby all right?” which discusses various facets of birth defects and its treatment.
The Apgar Score
Since its discovery in 1952, it had taken the centre stage to determine new-born baby’s health. It is henceforth used by all doctors to assess the first few moments of the baby after his welcome to this world. In the labour room, the score is declared which lets the doctor know whether the baby is normal or needs special care. The Apgar score is split into 5 categories, where each category gets 0 to 2 points depending on the child's condition.
The categories are:
Category
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Point 0
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Point 1
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Point 2
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A- Activity or muscle tone
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Muscle tone is limp of floppy
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The limbs are flexed
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Active movement Present
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P- Heart rate or Pulse
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Absent pulse
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Less than 100 beats per minute
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More than 100 beats per minute
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G- Grimace or Response to stimulation
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Response to stimulation is Absent
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Facial movement Present
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Coughing, sneezing, crying or withdrawal of foot with stimulation is Present
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A- Appearance
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Blue, bluish-grey or pale all over
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the Pink body but in extremities of blue
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All over pink baby
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R- Respiration or Breathing
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Respiration or breathing is absent
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Respiration is irregular and is coupled with weak crying
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Breathing is good along with strong crying
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The Apgar score is recorded at an interval of 5 minutes. Generally, the score of 7-10 is considered normal. Below that, the baby needs special treatment. It has been observed that baby with complicated delivery or a caesarean baby has a low Apgar score.
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