Aug 30

Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.

“A Baby With A One Minute APGAR of 7 Is A Baby That Is Really In Trouble.”

“A baby with a one minute APGAR of 7 is a baby that is really in trouble.” – L&D nurse explaining why it was necessary to have a newborn in the nursery, separated from the mother for the first five hours.

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There are 34 comments to this post.

Billie Jo had this to say, Aug 30, 2011 @ 4:35 am (Quote)

Exactly what part of the APGAR score makes it so worrisome? To have a 7 Baby would have had to have scored a 1 on just about everything (and 2 somewhere in there as well).

And how does the APGAR score remotely explain the particulars of why the baby *needs* to be in the nursery???

Details had this to say, Aug 30, 2011 @ 4:39 am (Quote)

Not even remotely true. What was the second score? It seems to me 7 & 9 are the typical scores. Ever heard the term pinking up? Stuff it nurse Know nothing.

snowie had this to say, Aug 30, 2011 @ 4:42 am (Quote)

Wouldn’t skin-to-skin with mom be the best place, it’s nice and warm and helps LO with breathing and heart rate. Isolation in the nursery is actually very stressful for baby. I would have thought you would known that nursie as you went to school?

Christina Reply:
August 30th, 2011 at 4:46 am Christina(Quote)

Don’t you know? That’s for the hippies. Plastic boxes and artificial warmers are soooo much better…Hint of sarcasm? Try a truckful!

Tee Reply:
August 30th, 2011 at 1:50 pm Tee(Quote)

Exactly!

Christina had this to say, Aug 30, 2011 @ 4:44 am (Quote)

So, let me guess…This baby won’t be able to breastfeed? Idiots! My daughter and son were both 8/9 and I just don’t see how a 7 could be THAT much worse. My babies were both healthy with no NICU time and my daughter was nearly a month early.

Seriously, if I ever have another baby, I’m going to Ina May’s farm. Enough of this hospital nonsense.

Jane had this to say, Aug 30, 2011 @ 4:48 am (Quote)

WHAT?

First, the APGAR is a test to flag babies that need help.

Second, a 7 is a lovely one-minute score. And what was the second score? If it’s up at 9 or 10, then that baby is FINE.

Third, this is a nurse who knows hospital policy is to keep the baby in the nursery and has no idea why, and therefore when mothers say confusing and irrational things like “I would like to hold my newborn baby,” s/he needs to provide a reason why.

What do you want to bet they keep babies with an APGAR of 10 in the nursery for observation too?

Bonita Reply:
August 30th, 2011 at 1:22 pm Bonita(Quote)

The explanation for a baby with a 10 being in the nursery would be “he’s just TOO perfect”… He’s being sneaky and just waiting to pull one on us…

Laurel had this to say, Aug 30, 2011 @ 4:57 am (Quote)

Bullshit. My son’s first APGAR was 1. That is a baby who needs help.

I’m just going to follow Jane around with a “YEAH THAT!” sign!

Selia had this to say, Aug 30, 2011 @ 5:09 am (Quote)

Since that is fine for most professionals it must be that you are so horrible at your job that you are about to make my baby worse and cause the need for nursery care. Geez. 7 is perfectly normal for 1 minute and requires no intervention if baby improves after that.

Sheva had this to say, Aug 30, 2011 @ 5:17 am (Quote)

7?? The first Apgar tells us if baby needs help transitioning. I don’t think the first it is a long-term piece of information. Unless the second one is just as low, and the condition stays that way. But, seven? That’s not low. And I’ve met docs and nurses who will give a baby a lower score out of spite. One nurse told me, “Oh, we don’t give a baby a 10 unless it stands up and walks out of the hospital on its own.”
Really? I didn’t know walking was one of the criteria for a ten.

AJ Reply:
September 11th, 2011 at 8:04 am AJ(Quote)

I was told with my 36 weeker who got 8 and 9 that they only give doctor’s babies 10s.

Erin had this to say, Aug 30, 2011 @ 5:20 am (Quote)

Bull. My 35 weeker had a one minute of 5, and a follow up of I think 8. Luckily, I had a wonderful staff that knew the thing she needed most was skin to skin. She never had NICU time or additional care and she did wonderfully (although they did keep a close eye)–much better than my 37 weeker that they took away from me to the NICU

Jen had this to say, Aug 30, 2011 @ 5:30 am (Quote)

A nurse who claims a 7 is a baby in trouble is really a nurse trying to explain away a bull-crap policy.

Charity had this to say, Aug 30, 2011 @ 5:38 am (Quote)

I call B.S! Give me my baby!

Melissa had this to say, Aug 30, 2011 @ 5:50 am (Quote)

My “low”-APGAR homeborn baby did just fine because my midwives left him with me and attached to me while they worked on him.
Seems like the way to ensure a rough transition is to cut the cord immediately and whisk baby away from his mama. That’s how they treated my sister’s first baby and he ended up in NICU (her 8lb 11oz unmedicated spontaneous labor term baby).

mom of 5 had this to say, Aug 30, 2011 @ 5:55 am (Quote)

My 4th child’s 1 minute APGAR was a 1. His 5 minute APGAR was a 5. He was in bad shape.

Nonetheless, I still got to nurse him in OR recovery following a precarious c-section birth. They still wanted to observe him, but he was not separated from me until I was ready

judith had this to say, Aug 30, 2011 @ 6:26 am (Quote)

from a fellow nurse-WTF?!

jenni Reply:
August 30th, 2011 at 6:40 am jenni(Quote)

i think i love you. its so empowering when we realize that its not just us lay-persons thinking this, that other people in the same field know that this person is wrong!

silverhawkwarrior Reply:
August 30th, 2011 at 8:38 am silverhawkwarrior(Quote)

Yaay for awesome nurses!

GranolaRN had this to say, Aug 30, 2011 @ 7:25 am (Quote)

Bullshit. I was the nurse for a birth in the past week where the 1 minute apgar was 6. I gave the baby blow-by oxygen for about 30 seconds, she perked right up, her 5 minute apgar was 10, and she stayed with her mom for the rest of my shift. No big deal.

silverhawkwarrior Reply:
August 30th, 2011 at 8:38 am silverhawkwarrior(Quote)

Yaay for more awesome nurses!

Kathryn had this to say, Aug 30, 2011 @ 8:05 am (Quote)

This was mine.

And it wasn’t actually the nursery, it was the NICU. Once he got out of there, he roomed-in the rest of our stay.

Five minute APGAR was 9, but they took him away AFTER THAT. My husband followed him, and said they tried to put in an IV (what the heck?!), stuck him multiple times in both hands and feet (he had the bruises for a couple of weeks), and never got one inserted. Then they figured he was fine and didn’t need one after all, but they still had to keep him just in case. My husband didn’t even hold him until he was 5 hours old, and I only got him for about 10 seconds before they whisked him away.

And I have had other nurses since then tell me the same bull-crap story about a 1-min 7 being a baby in trouble. Except now I’m more educated and I call their bluff.

And anyways, this was just the icing on the cake of the whole terrible and traumatic birthing experience. There was so much awful stuff, so much wrong with it.

I’m now 18 weeks with my second and am going to a birth center this time. Direct-entry midwives can’t be licensed in my state and I don’t feel comfortable with a homebirth for that one reason.

mom of 5 Reply:
August 30th, 2011 at 11:38 am mom of 5(Quote)

It completely blows my mind that a 1-minute APGAR could even be called fair, much less dangerous or “trouble.”

Sorry for this and best wishes on your upcoming birth.

Jane Reply:
August 30th, 2011 at 6:44 pm Jane(Quote)

I’m sorry, Kathryn. These people were just doing whatever they wanted with no regard for you.

Rach had this to say, Aug 30, 2011 @ 9:00 am (Quote)

7 at one could be normal heart rate, but floppy, irregular respiration, blue (which most babies lose the point on anyway) but when you stimulate ie dry with towel, response is normal (ie screams!). There we go sorted, baby back to mum…

CNicole had this to say, Aug 30, 2011 @ 9:23 am (Quote)

Say What?

7 is a totally fine 1 minute Apgar, sigh. My first had a score of 4 at 1 minute and a 9 at 5 minutes. They told me this improvement showed that it was good that they did the cesarean when they did. She recovered so nicely and they felt it was possible if they had waited she wouldn’t have recovered as well (they did give me the option, but thought it wasn’t a good idea). She did not spend any time in the NICU.

Dorothy Kernaghan-Baez had this to say, Aug 30, 2011 @ 11:54 am (Quote)

How ’bout this Nurse Ratchett? Bring. Me. MY. Baby. If I have to get her myself, I will be dragging you with me by the hair.

Tee had this to say, Aug 30, 2011 @ 1:57 pm (Quote)

You know what this boils down to? For some reason, medical staff often thinks that they somehow have a right to the baby. It’s not their baby!

Dorothy Kernaghan-Baez Reply:
August 30th, 2011 at 3:32 pm Dorothy Kernaghan-Baez(Quote)

And it makes my blood BOIL. I was visiting a new mom in the hospital and the lady in the room next door wanted her older children to meet the baby. Because of flu season, they weren’t allowing children in.

The lady said then I’ll take the baby to the door so they can at least see him. The nurse said, “No, you can’t get that close to the door because the alarm will sound.”

I, being me, made a scene. I told the lady to let the alarm go off, that the nurses could tell security that there was no emergency. I reminded the lady that he was HER baby and she had every right to introduce him to his siblings. Giving birth in a hospital is not the same as signing over custody.

The lady seemed really surprised and said, “You know what? He IS my baby. And I’m taking him to the door.” And she did.

Tee Reply:
August 30th, 2011 at 8:56 pm Tee(Quote)

Wow! Thank you so much, Dorothy, for standing up for that Momma! It’s such a shame to think that her older children wouldn’t have even gotten to literally see their new baby brother! Sounds to me like you would make a great doula! (If you aren’t one already!)

Dawn had this to say, Aug 30, 2011 @ 3:50 pm (Quote)

I had a baby with a 1 minute apgar of 1. No kidding. They had to suction her for mec, and didn’t move her after she was born as she only had a heart rate of 80. I didn’t even know it until the family doc actually left the chart in the room the next day and I peeked. Her 5 minute apgar was either 7 or 8. She was on my chest within 15 minutes of the birth, and was not taken away. It really scared me to read her apgar was so low, and by the way, she was born with only nurses in the room. They were calm and acted quickly. She was assessed right away by a doc, but right with me. Seems silly they took this baby to the NICU for no reason!

Jen had this to say, Aug 30, 2011 @ 5:05 pm (Quote)

My kids’ initial APGARs were 6, 9, 9, and 3. The last one spent NO time in the NICU, it wasn’t even mentioned since his second score was a 9.

Mandie had this to say, Aug 31, 2011 @ 1:57 pm (Quote)

Wow. I have a Zombie baby… My 5th kiddo, born a month ago had a 1 min apgar of what my hubby said was maybe 1 (he knows his stuff- used to work as a RT in the NICU for like 6 yrs before he changed jobs) He was limp, blue,grey, not crying or moving (and I can’t remember the other criteria right now, but you get the point) My hubby waited a little bit, then gave him 3 quick breaths and baby pinked up and was fine. Of course, there was no hospital staff there to try and scare me otherwise!

With my 2nd kiddo, he was born at 35 weeks and spent a week in the NICU- Why? Yeah, I still don’t know! They told me it’s because of my water being broke for an unknown amount of time and they were concerned about infection, but he had no signs of infection at all- it just took a week to get his test results back before they released him.

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