Question

Five minutes after birth, a newborn is pale; has irregular, slow respirations; has a heart rate of 120 beats/min; displays minimal flexion of the extremities; and has minimal reflex responses. What is this newborn’s Apgar score? Record your answer using a whole number.

Answer 1

5

Explanation:

The Apgar score is calculated based on 5 medical criteria:

-Appearance – skin color

-Pulse – heart rate (taken with a stethoscope or by feeling the umbilical cord)

-Grimace – reflex response

-Activity – muscle tone

-Respiration – breathing quality

Each one of the criteria is evaluated on a 0 to 2 scale, once every criteria are measured, the values are added up and the child would have an Apgar score between 0 and 10.

Here:

Apparence = 0

Pulse = 2

Grimace = 1

Activity = 1

Respiration = 1

Total= 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 5