Have you heard of APGAR before?

Apgar is a scoring system that was developed in the 50s in New York by Virginia Apgar and is used today worldwide.​​

Apgar is routinely used in labor to assess the newborn baby's vitality immediately after birth.​​

When scoring according to apgar, an evaluation is made of the baby's:​​
A - Appearance (Skin color).
P - Pulse (Heartbeat).
G - Grimace
A - Activity (Muscle tone).
R - Respiration (Breathing).

This is done with a scoring between 0-2 points in each area first after 1 min, then after 5 min and then again after 10 min. High apgar, a combined number of 7-10, shows that the baby is doing well.​​

This is not something that parents usually notice, the baby lies on the mother's chest while staff do a visual check after the birth. But now you know that staff are closely monitoring your little baby.

Baby's skin color
It is common for babies to have a reddish color after birth, the red color is due to their own high blood count. Hands and feet have a bluish color which may remain so during the first week of life. This is due to immature blood circulation.

If you feel worried or have questions about your baby's well-being, always contact the maternity care, BVC, Vårdguiden (similar in your region) or the children's emergency room!

Big hug,
Sandra