Low Apgar Score Linked to Cerebral Palsy
The Apgar score is a quick assessment of your newborn’s condition at birth. The Apgar score was created in 1952 by an anesthesiologist named Virginia Apgar. The test is given to your newborn right after birth in the delivery or birthing room. The newborn is evaluated on five simple criteria (complexion, heart rate, reaction when stimulated, muscle tone, and breathing) on a scale from zero to two. The five values are then added up to acquire a score from 0 to 10.
The Apgar test is usually given to a baby twice: once at 1 minute after birth and again at 5 minutes after birth. A baby who scores a 7 or above on the test at 1 minute after birth is generally considered in good health. A score between 4 and 6, could mean that the baby needs some help breathing or is in trouble. A score of 3 or less, may mean that the baby needs more immediate lifesaving measures, such as resuscitation. At 5 minutes after birth, the Apgar score is recalculated and if the baby’s score hasn’t improved to 7 or greater, the doctor and nurses will continue any needed medical care and closely monitor the baby.
A low Apgar score may be normal for some newborns, especially babies who are born premature. Sometimes perfectly healthy babies have a lower than normal score. However, during a recent study published in the British Medical Journal, researchers in Norway concluded that a low Apgar score in children born to term or with a normal birth weight is strongly associated with birth trauma and cerebral palsy in childhood. The researchers used data from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway and the Norwegian Registry of Cerebral Palsy in Children to assess the association of an Apgar score five minutes after birth with cerebral palsy in 543,064 children born between 1986 and 1995. The prevalance of cerebral palsy in children with an Apgar score of less than 3 was more than 100-fold higher than in children with a score of 10. A low Apgar score was also associated with all subgroups of spastic cerebral palsy including spastic diplegia and hemiplegia, but the association was strongest for quadriplegia. Low Apgar scores are frequently associated with birth trauma, birth injury, hypoxic ischemic encephalopthy (birth asphyxia) and traumatic birth which can cause fetal brain damage resulting in cerebral palsy.
For more information on the causes of cerebral palsy or to find out if your child’s cerebral palsy was a result of medical malpractice or birth trauma please click on the link below.
http://www.abclawcenters.com/html/cerebral_palsy.html
About us: Reiter & Walsh ABC Law Centers is based in Detroit, MI. We specialize in birth injury cases and serve Oakland, Macomb and Wayne Counties and all other counties in Michigan. Our major Michigan cities include Detroit, Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor, Lansing, and Warren but we also serve all other areas of the state. Reiter & Walsh ABC Law Centers also represents clients in Washington DC and Columbus, Cleveland, Toledo, Cincinnati and the remainder of Ohio and other states. Our consultations are free and we do not charge legal fees until we win your case. 1-888-419-BABY, www.abclawcenters.com.