Apgar-Test: Bedeutung, Einsatz und Bewertung (2024)

FAQs

What is the Apgar score answer? ›

The Apgar score is based on a total score of 1 to 10. The higher the score, the better the baby is doing after birth. A score of 7, 8, or 9 is normal and is a sign that the newborn is in good health.

Neonatal Encephalopathy and Neurologic Outcome, Second Edition, published in 2014 by the College in collaboration with the AAP, defines a 5-minute Apgar score of 7–10 as reassuring, a score of 4–6 as moderately abnormal, and a score of 0–3 as low in the term infant and late-preterm infant 6.

Your baby's healthcare providers don't use the Apgar score to predict your baby's future development, intelligence or future health. The Apgar tests can't be used to determine if your baby will have serious or long-term health issues.

Most newborn infants have Apgar scores greater than 7.

Because their hands and feet remain blue until they are quite warm, few score a perfect 10. If your baby's Apgar scores are between 5 and 7 at one minute, she may have experienced some problems during birth that lowered the oxygen in her blood.

The five categories assessed are heart rate, respiratory effort, muscle tone, reflex irritability, and color. Each of these categories is scored 0, 1, or 2, depending on the observed condition of the newborn.

Elements of the Apgar score include color, heart rate, reflexes, muscle tone, and respiration. Apgar scoring is designed to assess for signs of hemodynamic compromise, including cyanosis, hypoperfusion, bradycardia, hypotonia, respiratory depression, or apnea. Each element is scored 0, 1, or 2.

Scores are between 10 and 0. Ten is the highest score possible, but few babies get it. That's because most babies' hands and feet remain blue until they have warmed up.

The Apgar score is measured at 1 and 5 minutes and then at 10 and 20 minutes as resuscitative efforts are continued. A score of 0 to 3 indicates a severely depressed neonate, whereas a score of 7 to 10 is considered normal.

This initial evaluation may occur during the interval between birth and umbilical cord clamping. You will rapidly ask 3 questions: (1) Does the baby appear to be term, (2) Does the baby have good muscle tone, and (3) Is the baby breathing or crying?

It is important to understand that the Apgar test is not designed to predict your child's long-term health or intelligence. However, there is a link between lower-than-average Apgar scores and medical conditions such as cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE).

How rare is a perfect Apgar score? ›

The Apgar score is just a quick way for us to assess a newborn's condition at one minute of life. If your baby doesn't get a 10 at one minute or even after five minutes, don't worry. Very few babies get a perfect Apgar score – in fact at our hospital, fewer than 1 in 100 get that perfect 10.

The maximum score that can be assigned is 10. Scores ranging from 7-10 are considered normal. If the 5-minute Apgar score is abnormal (< 7), appropriate measures should be taken.

Anesthesiologist Virginia Apgar, M.D. developed this scoring system in 1952, and modern hospitals worldwide still use the Apgar scale to make an immediate assessment of how ready your baby is to meet the world. While it's your baby's first "test," don't be disappointed if they don't ace it.

For each vital organ the baby is given a score of 2, 1 or 0 points. A total Apgar score of 8 or 10 indicates that the baby is in good condition. A score of 4–7 indicates moderate birth asphyxia. A score of 2–4 indicates severe birth asphyxia and a need for urgent resuscitation.

Newborns come in a range of healthy sizes. Most babies born between 37 and 40 weeks weigh somewhere between 5 pounds, 8 ounces (2,500 grams) and 8 pounds, 13 ounces (4,000 grams). Newborns who are lighter or heavier than the average baby are usually fine.

Rationale: Apgar scoring is a rapid assessment of the newborn's transition to extrauterine life & is based on 5 components: heart rate, respiratory effort, muscle tone, reflex irritability, & color.

Each factor gets a score of 0, 1, or 2, and you perform the test twice. A total score of 7 or greater means that the newborn is in good shape. A score of less than 7 means that the newborn's in trouble. Check your textbooks for details on designating a specific score for each factor.

Developed in 1952 by Dr. Virginia Apgar, then a professor of anesthesiology at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and director of obstetric anesthesia at Presbyterian Hospital, the Apgar score is used around the world for assessing newborns' health as they take their first breaths.