12 Comments
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Bad Bunny's avatar

I worked in an OB/Gyn hospital for a quarter century. We delivered about 18k babies a year. Apgars of 9 were pretty much the norm for us -- "one off for color". 10s were usually c/s babies. We had an NICU and managed to save some 500gm premies over the years although some stayed two years. Virginia Apgar was one of our idols.

Patris's avatar

So grateful for every damn thing you guys did for these little ones - there and every place that supported and saved each precious one..

GigiDimeg's avatar

Thank you for that important work, Bad Bunny!

Judith stensland's avatar

Hi there, retired midwife here. The APGAR score is 0 to 10. A score of 8 to 10 is considered healthy. 6 TO 8 is gonna get some oxygen. Lower than six they will be all over that kid like stink on shit. Glad your kid came out with a 10. Really enjoy your articles.

Monado's avatar

I figured that the two 5-point scores (1 minute, 5 minutes) are added up.

Mike Hammer's avatar

I appreciate this as during my residency in anesthesiology we had much affection and appreciation for Dr. Apgar. WE often had to intubate the newborn, at times do CPR.

Bad Bunny's avatar

My hat's off to anyone skilled enough to intubate a premie! It's like trying to intubate a kitten.

/anne...'s avatar

Your daughter sounds like mine; I tell people she had an apgar score of 11.

Humourless people who have never watched Spinal Tap insist that it's impossible; I don't care, as she was bright red from indignation. It took an hour for her to stop yelling enough so we could check if she had eyeballs.

Sky 777's avatar

Love this. This one person made a huge contribution. And lives on through this straightforward assessment protocol that we all still use!

Learned about APGAR score in med school but never knew it was developed by Dr Apgar! PS. Spell check changed “Dr Apgar” to “Dr. APGAR”. Fascinating!

Rebecca Weitzel's avatar

Great history! 👏🏻👏🏻

Jess Apgar's avatar

Grateful to come upon this post! I have been asked so many times if I knew what the Apgar score was or if I was related to the doctor who invented it. I still don't know if I'm related to her, although I'd like to think I am! She's an incredible woman! Thank you for writing about her.