Many young parents have come across in their lives the expression “Apgar scale”. Immediately after birth, the doctor must tell the woman the points that he awarded the baby according to this scale. Just like height and weight, they are entered into the exchange card. These parameters are most needed by doctors, and not by the woman herself.
What is the Apgar scale for?
This system was developed by the American anesthetist Virginia Apgar in 1952. The purpose of the scale is to provide obstetricians with the opportunity to assess the health status of a newborn baby immediately after it comes to this world. Thus, it is possible to quickly determine the need for resuscitation.
They evaluate a newborn on the Apgar scale twice - during the first and fifth minutes of life. In rare cases, more such assessments are required. Initially, nurse reflexes were performed by nurses. But in our time it is the responsibility of a neonatologist.
Ten-point scale for assessing the condition of the newborn
A ten-point system is used to evaluate a child. In this case, indicators of his pulse, respiration, muscle tone, skin and congenital reflexes are taken into account . Each of them is evaluated separately, awarding from 0 to 2 points. Their amount is the result of the survey.
The newborn baby is weighed, the value of his height, the circumference of the head and chest are measured. If your baby was rated more than 7-8 points on the Apgar scale, the child is absolutely healthy. In this case, she is with her mother until discharge. If the overall assessment indicators are below 7 points, the child needs resuscitation care.
An indicator of 8/8 points on the Apgar scale is quite good, since in the first minute 10 points receive less than 15% of newborns.
Are the concepts of “viable” and “healthy” similar
Do not panic or be upset if the doctor gave the child a rating of 7/8 points on the Apgar scale. If the baby was immediately laid on the mother’s stomach, they gave him a chest and after that he was taken for examination, he is viable. But the state of his health can only be judged on the basis of the results of certain tests and a survey. A rating of 8/9 and even 8/8 points on the Apgar scale is considered quite high.
The health of the child is checked, regardless of the desire of his mother. Parents may be required to consent to the vaccine, but no one will ask permission to conduct an examination.
During this examination, the doctor should take blood from the thumb on the leg in order to exclude the presence of five frequently occurring mutations. If they are detected in a timely manner, with proper therapy, the likelihood of their cure increases significantly. The baby in this case will be full and healthy.
The scheme for determining the total score
They analyze the state of the baby on the Apgar scale during the first five minutes of his life. Immediately after birth, they watch when and how the baby cried, examine the condition of his skin, evaluate the bright light of a flashlight, determine muscle tone and heartbeat.
If the child has a natural color of the skin and he screamed loudly without assistance immediately after he was born, the baby gets the highest score on the Apgar scale. In addition, he must resist the flexion or extension of his limbs by a neonatologist. In bright light, such a newborn frowns, and the frequency of beating of his heart according to the prescribed standards is about 100 beats per minute.
Also, a neonatologist checks for the presence or absence of unconditioned reflexes. If the child is put on the back and put emphasis on his legs, he should push off. This is called a crawl reflex. When the child takes the armpits and puts the legs on the table, while tilting it slightly forward, he should rearrange the legs, imitating walking. This is a gait reflex.
Low Apgar score
But not every baby manages to show excellent results after passing through the birth canal and experienced as a result of this great stress. Therefore, if the crumbs were rated slightly lower than 8/8 on the Apgar scale, one should not be upset, as this is the norm. In addition, one should not forget about the temperament of the newborn man. After all, mothers are also very calm. So why should a child be active?
As already mentioned, the child's vital signs are evaluated during the first and fifth minutes of his life. Quite common is the case when the first score is 1 point lower than the second. For example, 8/8 points on the Apgar scale indicate that the indicators did not change significantly after 5 minutes.
But quite often in the exchange card you can see slightly different values. For example, 7/8 and 6/8 points on the Apgar scale indicate that after five minutes the baby has become comfortable in a world completely unfamiliar to him. Therefore, indicators have become much higher. In most cases, over this short period of time, the body is saturated with oxygen, which affects the improvement of the cardiovascular system. This contributes to the addition of one or two points.
Table of an estimation of criteria of vital activity of the newborn
For a better understanding of what marks and why doctors give a newborn baby, you can use the table below.
Apgar assessment criteria for a newborn | 2 points | 1 point | 0 points |
| Muscle tone | Baby is mobile | There is insufficient activity of the baby | No movement |
| Breathing features | The baby self cried out loud right after birth | Weak, irregular scream | No cry and breath |
| Heart rate | > 100 | <100 | Is absent |
| Skin color features | Light pink | The skin of the arms and legs is blue, the rest of the body has a natural color | All baby skin has a blue tint |
| Unconditioned reflexes | There is an excellent response to major irritants | Reaction to stimuli is poorly expressed, mobility is practically absent | There is absolutely no reaction to external stimuli |
But with the help of this table you can only judge the physical health of the baby. Apgar scale indicators cannot be used for other forecasts. For example, it is not used to determine the mental abilities of a child.
How to get a high score?
Of course, every mother wants her child to be healthy. 8 points on the Apgar scale is one of the most desirable indicators for her. But this result depends primarily on herself.
Immediately after a woman finds out about the pregnancy, she should analyze and adjust her diet, daily routine. It is also necessary to strictly observe absolutely all the prescriptions of the doctor. Only in this case, after 9 months a strong and healthy baby will be born, who will receive at least 8 points on the Apgar scale.
Behavior during childbirth
Do not be too frivolous about the words of doctors during childbirth. Indeed, the favorable outcome of this process depends on how the child is born. The baby whose mother behaved correctly and complied with all the doctor’s recommendations will get 8/9 points on the Apgar scale. Otherwise, the baby may have a bruise instead of the head. Of course, there is nothing terrible and fatal in this. During the first month, the blue color of the skin will change to natural pink. But here the Apgar score will go down by 1 or 2 points.
Do not worry if some indicator was slightly below normal. This does not indicate disability or the presence of pathological health problems. The Apgar score is an important indicator that does not in any way affect the future of the child. It is taken into account only at birth, like height and weight.