APGAR Score Calculator

About this calculator

The APGAR score rates a newborn's condition on five signs — Appearance (skin colour), Pulse (heart rate), Grimace (reflex irritability), Activity (muscle tone), and Respiration — each scored 0, 1, or 2, for a total of 0 to 10. It's typically assessed at 1 minute and again at 5 minutes after birth, with the 5-minute score carrying more weight for longer-term outlook; a low score that improves between the two checks is itself clinically meaningful.

Devised by anaesthesiologist Virginia Apgar in 1952, the score gives delivery-room staff — obstetricians, midwives, and neonatal nurses — a fast, standardized way to decide whether a newborn needs immediate resuscitation or extra monitoring, without waiting for lab results. It remains one of the first things recorded on every birth in modern obstetric practice, though it is a rapid screening tool rather than a diagnosis.