What Do Apgar Scores Mean?

Content provided by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School

What Do Apgar Scores Mean?

Apgar scores are used to estimate the overall health of a newborn in the first minutes of life. Be sure to keep in mind that this score does not predict a child's potential future health or physical or mental development. It is more a way for doctors to have standard language for communicating how the baby did right after delivery.

The Apgar test is given twice — one minute and five minutes after delivery. To perform this test, a doctor or nurse in the delivery room gives your baby 0, 1 or 2 points for each of five areas: heart rate, breathing, response to touch, muscle tone and skin color.

A score of 7 to 10 is considered normal and indicates that a baby is in good physical condition. These newborns have a heart rate of at least 100 beats per minute and are breathing well with loud cries. A normal score also means that the baby reacted with a cough, sneeze or general dislike to an irritation, such as when a catheter was placed in his nose to suction out mucus. One point is often taken off for skin color, as most babies have blue hands and feet (acrocyanosis) when they are born.

Babies with low Apgar scores (6 or below at one minute) need immediate assistance with their breathing and heart rate, as the baby is adjusting more slowly to being on his or her own after delivery. These problems tend to resolve with a little help from the medical staff; the Apgar score is often within the normal range by five minutes after delivery. If the score remains low after five minutes, the baby requires further medical assistance.

Last updated:	September 29, 2004
Reviewed By:	Faculty of Harvard Medical School