Shortly after delivery, a newborn was noted to have good muscle tone and movement of all extremities, a heart rate of 90/min, sneezing, coughing, a loud cry, and pink color over the entire body. Her Apgar score is:
+Sign | 0 Points | 1 Point | 2 Points |
---|---|---|---|
Activity (muscle tone) | Absent | Arms and legs flexed | Active movement |
Pulse | Absent | <100 bpm | >100 bpm |
Grimace (reflex irritability) | None | Grimace | Sneeze, cough, pulls away |
Appearance (color) | Blue-gray, pale | Normal, except for extremities | Normal over entire body |
Respirations | Absent | Slow, irregular | Good, crying |
6.
+7.
+8.
+9.
+10.
Apgar scores (named after Virginia Apgar, who first described them) are taken at 1 minute and 5 minutes, and repeated every 15 minutes if the score is less than 7. Table 1–1 shows the scoring method.