Читать книгу Infants and Children in Context - Tara L. Kuther - Страница 178

After birth, newborns are routinely screened with the Apgar scale, which provides a quick and easy overall assessment of the baby’s immediate health. As shown in Table 3.1, the Apgar scale is composed of five subtests: appearance (color), pulse (heart rate), grimace (reflex irritability), activity (muscle tone), and respiration (breathing). The newborn is rated 0, 1, or 2 on each subscale for a maximum total score of 10. A score of 4 or lower means that the newborn is in serious condition and requires immediate medical attention. The rating is conducted twice, 1 minute after delivery and again 5 minutes after birth; this timing ensures that hospital staff will monitor the newborn over several minutes. Over 98% of all newborns in the United States achieve a 5-minute score of 7 to 10, indicating good health (Martin, Hamilton, Osterman, Curtin, & Mathews, 2013).

The Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS) is a neurobehavioral assessment commonly administered to newborns, especially those who are judged to be at risk (Bartram, Barlow, & Wolke, 2015). It is administered in the first few days after birth to assess the newborn’s neurological competence as indicated by the responsiveness to the physical and social environment, perception, and motor skills such as activity level and the ability to bring a hand to the mouth (Nugent, 2013). The NBAS also assesses infants’ attention and state changes, including excitability and ability to settle down after being upset. When parents observe and participate in their baby’s NBAS screening, they learn about their newborn’s perceptual and behavioral capacities and are better able to elicit gazes, quiet fussiness, and tend to be more responsive to their infants (Benzies et al., 2013).

Table 3.1

Source: Apgar (1953).