Virginia Apgar Saves the First Breath of Life

The hospital was quiet in the early morning, but Dr. Virginia Apgar never seemed to sleep. She moved down the hallway in her white coat, her stethoscope swinging, her mind always working. It was 1952, and something was troubling her deeply — something she could not ignore any longer. In hospitals all across America, babies were being born every single day. Most came into the world healthy and crying, filling the room with the most wonderful sound. But some babies arrived very quietly. They were pale, or they struggled to breathe, or their little hearts beat too faintly. And far too often, nobody noticed in time. Back then, no one had a clear way to check how a newborn baby was doing in those first precious moments of life. Doctors and nurses were busy. The delivery room was loud and rushed. A baby in danger could be overlooked. Virginia had watched this happen, and it broke her heart every time. "Someone has to do something," she said one morning to a medical student eating breakfast beside her. She grabbed a napkin from the table and began writing. Her pencil moved quickly. Five things to check. Color of the skin. Pulse. Reflexes. Muscle strength. Breathing. Five simple signs that any nurse or doctor could observe in less than a minute. She scored each one — zero, one, or two. Add them up, and you had a number. That number told you everything you needed to know. The student looked at the napkin. "Is that really all it takes?" he asked. Virginia smiled. "Sometimes the simplest things save the most lives." She walked straight into the delivery room and tried it. A baby had just been born, quiet and limp. Virginia counted on her fingers, checked each sign, wrote down the score. It was low — dangerously low. She called for help immediately. The nurses moved fast. The baby received the care she needed, and within minutes, a small cry filled the room. Virginia Apgar had been working her whole life for moments like this one. Growing up in Westfield, New Jersey, she had always loved music and science equally. She played the violin she built with her own hands. She dreamed of becoming a doctor at a time when very few women were allowed into medical school. Her professors told her it would be too hard, that there were no opportunities for women in surgery. She listened politely, then went right on studying anyway. She became one of the first women to complete the surgical training program at Columbia University. And when the doors to surgery stayed closed, she walked through another door — into the field of anesthesia, the science of keeping patients safe and free from pain during operations. She became one of the greatest experts in the country, and she used every bit of that knowledge to protect the tiniest patients of all. Her scoring system was soon called the Apgar Score, and hospitals everywhere adopted it. A score of seven or higher meant a baby was healthy. Lower scores meant the baby needed help right away. It was simple. It was fast. And it worked. Doctors estimate that the Apgar Score has saved hundreds of thousands of lives — perhaps millions — in countries all around the world. Every single baby born in an American hospital today receives an Apgar Score within one minute of arrival. Every single one. Virginia Apgar never stopped working. She went on to fight for research into birth defects, traveling the country, giving speeches, raising funds, and listening to families who needed someone to care. She once said, "Nobody, but nobody, is going to stop breathing on me." And because of her courage and her brilliance and her stubborn, beautiful love for life, millions of babies got to take their first full breath, open their eyes, and begin their story. Just like yours began. Sleep well, little one. The world is full of brave people watching over you.