"Nobody, but nobody is going to stop breathing on me!”

Both my kids celebrate their birthdays this fall and one of their books taught me the story about something that happened in the first minute of both of their births. It’s a simple diagnostic test that is used in a few different countries to assess how healthy babies are immediately after childbirth. I still remember the doctor yelling it out to the nurse when both kids were born – and looking up what it meant. Turns out the Apgar score covers 5 key areas for babies – skin color, heart rate, respiration, muscle tone, and reflex irritability. But I didn’t realize at the time who the Apgar score was named for.

Virginia Apgar was born in New Jersey, and always knew she wanted to be a doctor. She graduated high school in 1925, attended undergraduate school at Mount Holyoke College, and graduated fourth in her class at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons. Originally, she wanted to be a surgeon, but she was discouraged due to her gender, and encouraged to pursue a career in anesthesiology. She eventually received her certification in 1937, and returned to Columbia as the director of the new division of anesthesia.

In the 1950s, Apgar did research work at Sloane Hospital for Women, and looked into ways to decrease the infant mortality rate in the first 24 hours of birth. In particular at the time, the United States’ infant mortality rate was decreasing, but the number of infant deaths within these first 24 hours had been unchanged. Apgar worked as an obstetric anesthesiologist, and had first-hand knowledge of how to distinguish healthy babies from those in distress. She worked to develop what became known as the Apgar score – it was commonplace in hospitals by the 1960s and remains in place today. Apgar went on get a Masters in Public Health from Johns Hopkins and later was the vice president and director of research at the March of Dimes Foundation. She became a lecturer, a writer, a speaker, and an advocate for child and maternal health.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that countless children are alive today because of the Apgar score. She was known to say ““Nobody, but nobody is going to stop breathing on me!” Today, we thank and honor her.

-Reshma