The Apgar score was devised in 1952 by Virginia Apgar as a simple and repeatable method to quickly assess the health of newborn children immediately after delivery.
  • The Apgar score is determined by evaluating the newborn baby on five simple criteria on a scale from zero to two.
  • Sum up the five values thus obtained.
  • The resulting Apgar score ranges from zero to 10.
  • The five criteria form the acronym APGAR; note the right-hand column
  Score of 0 Score of 1 Score of 2 Acronym
Skin color blue all over blue at extremities normal Appearance
Heart rate absent <100 >100 Pulse
Reflex irritability no response
to stimulation		 grimace/feeble cry
when stimulated		 sneeze/cough/pulls away
when stimulated		 Grimace
Muscle tone none some flexion active movement Activity
Respiration absent weak or irregular strong Respiration
 
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