What is the Apgar scale?

When our baby was born the nurse or midwife, put a timer to ring first to the minute and after five minutes, and that is where he conducted the first tests called the Apgar scale.

This scale helps the physician to evaluate general condition, which was our little boy at birth she evaluated the heart rate, breathing, muscle tone, reflexes and color of the baby. this scale can not predict how healthy or will be developed, nor brilliant, nor his personality, but is intended to alert medical personnel if you are sleepy or reactions are slower than usual or if you need some special care to suit the new world that has been just outside the womb of his mother.

Each of the features is scored individually and then add up the partial scores for a total score. Example:

If a baby has a heart rate of 100 beats per minute, cry vigorously, move with great activity, grimace, cough, in response to a nasal catheter but will have a bluish Apgar score of 8. Most babies obtain birth Apgar score between 8 and 10. Since the hands and feet of many newborns remain blue until their body temperature increases are very few reap Apgar score of 10.

If a newborn child gets an Apgar score of 5 to 7 minute of birth you may have had some problems during delivery, which reduced the oxygen supply, in which case the doctor and nurses, dry thoroughly with a towel or cloth while oxygen is supplied through the nose. The baby should begin to breathe deeply to increase oxygen intake, so that the second review of Apgar score five minutes later the birth will score between 8 and 10.

A small percentage of newborns receive a score lower than 5 in the Apgar scale and are usually those who are born premature or born by emergency Caesarean section and are more likely to get low scores, that newborns delivered vaginally without complications .