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APGAR test

The APGAR test is routinely used one minute and five minutes (and sometimes ten minutes) after birth to assess a newborn baby's health. It assesses five basic indicators of health: activity level, pulse, grimace (response to stimulation), appearance and respiration. The baby is given a score of 0, 1 or 2 on each indicator and the scores are added up to give an overall "Apgar score" out of a possible ten.