Apgar Score Calculator
Calculate Apgar score for newborn assessment at 1 and 5 minutes after birth.
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How to use this calculator
Five criteria are each scored 0, 1, or 2: Appearance (skin colour), Pulse (heart rate), Grimace (reflex irritability), Activity (muscle tone), and Respiration. The total score ranges from 0 to 10.
- 1
Assess the newborn at 1 minute after birth (and again at 5 minutes).
- 2
Select the score (0, 1, or 2) for each of the five criteria.
- 3
The total is the sum of the five selections.
- 4
Repeat the assessment at 5 minutes and document both scores.
Frequently asked questions
What does the tool score?
Five signs, each scored 0, 1 or 2: appearance (skin colour), pulse, grimace (reflex response), activity (muscle tone) and respiration. The tool adds the five selections for a total from 0 to 10. There is no weighting, and every criterion counts equally.
What do the options for each criterion mean in this tool?
Appearance: 0 blue or pale all over, 1 blue extremities with a pink body, 2 completely pink. Pulse: 0 absent, 1 below 100 beats per minute, 2 at 100 or above. Grimace: 0 no response, 1 grimace only, 2 cough, sneeze or cry. Activity: 0 limp, 1 some flexion, 2 active motion. Respiration: 0 absent, 1 weak or irregular, 2 strong cry.
Which labels does the tool attach to the total?
These are the bands built into the tool. A total of 0 to 3 prints “Score band 0–3 (low)”, 4 to 6 prints “Score band 4–6 (moderately low)” and 7 to 10 prints “Score band 7–10 (reassuring)”. The same three bands (low, moderately abnormal, reassuring) are used in ACOG/AAP descriptions of the 5-minute score. They are wording in this tool, not instructions for managing a particular baby.
Does it handle the 1-minute and 5-minute scores together?
No. It scores one assessment at a time. To record both, run it once for each time point and note the totals yourself. The tool does not store results, track change between the two times or take a gestational age.
Should the score decide whether to resuscitate?
No. Neonatal resuscitation guidance has clinicians act on the baby’s condition as they see it, without waiting for a score to be assigned, and this page is a scoring aid for learning and record-keeping. The bands it prints are not care instructions.
Why is a score of 9 or 10 so common?
Colour is the sign most often scored below 2 in newborns, because hands and feet commonly stay blue for a short time after birth. That is why the tool offers the “blue extremities, pink body” option for appearance.
What if an option is left unselected?
The criteria are drop-down lists with a default of 2 each, so a fresh page shows 10 / 10. Any selection the tool cannot read counts as 0. Check that every field reflects the actual assessment before using the total.
Is this a diagnosis?
No. The band is wording from fixed cut-offs. The midwife, obstetrician or paediatric team who assess the newborn interpret the score.
Apgar score calculator — five signs, scored 0 to 2
How the total is built
The Apgar scale looks at appearance, pulse, grimace, activity and respiration. Each is rated 0, 1 or 2, and the five numbers are summed. A baby who is completely pink with a pulse of at least 100, a cough or cry on stimulation, active movement and a strong cry reaches the maximum of 10. The tool is a simple adder of five drop-down choices, with no other inputs. Each drop-down lists the descriptions that go with 0, 1 and 2, for example “Weak, irregular” for respiration, so you pick a description and not a number. The page starts with all five on 2, which is why a fresh load shows 10 / 10.
Four assessments run through the tool
Each row lists the five ratings in order (appearance, pulse, grimace, activity, respiration) and the total and label that the calculator returned. The 6 and 4 rows differ by two points yet sit in the same wording band, which shows how coarse a label based on a total can be.
| Ratings (A, P, G, A, R) | Total | Label printed by the tool |
|---|---|---|
| 2, 2, 2, 2, 2 | 10 / 10 | Score band 7–10 (reassuring) |
| 1, 2, 1, 1, 1 | 6 / 10 | Score band 4–6 (moderately low) |
| 0, 1, 0, 1, 1 | 3 / 10 | Score band 0–3 (low) |
| 1, 1, 1, 1, 0 | 4 / 10 | Score band 4–6 (moderately low) |
Where the label bands sit
The calculator separates totals into 0 to 3, 4 to 6 and 7 to 10. A total of 3 and a total of 4 fall one point apart but get different wording, as the last two rows of the table show. That is a feature of how the tool assigns text, and it is the reason to read the individual ratings and not only the total.
Limits of a one-number score
The score summarises the baby at one moment. It does not record the time it was taken, the gestational age or any interventions under way, and a single total can hide which sign was low. Two babies with 6 / 10 can look very different, one with a weak cry and one with poor tone. The page also offers no field for the minute of assessment, which is why the 1-minute and 5-minute totals have to be run separately and kept in the clinical record by the person scoring.
General information only
This page is general information, not medical advice and not for clinical decisions. A qualified clinician interprets the score and decides on any care for a newborn; in an emergency the clinical team does not wait for a score.
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Results are estimates for informational purposes only and do not constitute professional financial, medical, legal, or technical advice. Read full disclaimer →