What is an APGAR score?
Find out how your baby is assessed by the midwifery team at 1 min post birth and 5 mins post birth. In this short blog, I explore APGAR scores, how they are carried out and what they mean.
What is an APGAR Score?
Once your baby is born, the midwives in charge of your care will assess your baby using a scoring system called APGAR. This routine scoring occurs after 60 seconds and again at 5 minutes post birth.
A baby can score between zero and two for each of five criteria (Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity and Respiration) This is added to give a score out of 10.
A score of seven or above is considered normal, and a score below seven is regarded as low.
From the NHS Maternity Statistics 2018-2019, only 1% of the 485,901 term babies (with an APGAR score recorded) had a score below seven.