APGAR Score

At only a few seconds old, your newborn baby will be subjected to her first test.  The Apgar score is a test that will be performed on your baby right after her birth to assess her physical condition and whether she needs urgent medical attention.

The test, developed by Virginia Apgar in 1952, is also the acronym for the five factors that are evaluated in your newborn, namely:
Activity
Pulse
Grimace
Appearance
Respiration
 

From The Merck Manual of Medical Information – Second Home Edition, edited by Mark H. Beers. Copyright 2003 by Merck & Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, NJ.  See http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec23/ch263/ch263b.html?qt=apgar&alt=sh  Accessed 9 July 2008.  Please visit all of The Merck Manuals free online at www.MerckManuals.com.