The Apgar score has long served as a rapid and effective tool for assessing the immediate physiological state of a newborn. By evaluating five key criteria—heart rate, respiratory effort, muscle tone, ...

The birth of a baby is thrilling for parents. But the delivery room can be confusing with medical personnel and lots of monitors. A number of screenings for newborns are given right away, including ...

In the 1930s and 1940s, Dr. Virginia Apgar noticed something odd. Despite the US infant mortality rate decreasing overall, a high number of infants were still dying within 24 hours of birth. Part of ...

How important is Dr. Virginia Apgar to the modern practice of obstetrics? Here is the way the National Library of Medicine's website puts it: "[E]very baby born in a modern hospital anywhere in the ...

In medicine, inertia can be a strangely powerful force, but Virginia Apgar never succumbed to it. She brought incredible energy to her work in anesthesia, neonatology, and dysmorphology (the study of ...