What is an apgar test for babies and how does it work?
Apgar is the first test a baby gets within minutes of being born. It stands for Activity, Pulse, Grimace, Appearance, and Respiration. The Apgar test is usually given to your baby twice: once at 1 minute after birth, and again at 5 minutes after birth. Rarely, if there are concerns about the baby’s condition and the first two scores are low, the test may be scored for a third time at 10 minutes after birth. Five factors are used to evaluate the baby’s condition and each factor is scored on a scale of 0 to 2, with 2 being the best score: 1.activity and muscle tone 2.pulse (heart rate) 3.grimace response (medically known as “reflex irritability”) 4.appearance (skin coloration) 5.respiration (breathing rate and effort) Doctors, midwives, or nurses add these five factors together to calculate the Apgar score. Scores obtainable are between 10 and 0, with 10 being the highest possible score. Apgar Scoring Apgar Sign 2 1 0 Heart Rate (pulse) Normal (above 100 beats per minute) Below 100 beats
