Newborn Assessment & Common Complications

The Apgar score, assessed at 1 and 5 minutes after birth, evaluates five components — heart rate, respiratory effort, muscle tone, reflex irritability, and color — each scored 0–2, with a total score guiding the need for resuscitation; a low 1-minute score that improves by 5 minutes reflects a successful transition, while a persistently low score signals ongoing distress. Thermoregulation is a major newborn vulnerability: newborns lose heat quickly through evaporation, conduction, convection, and radiation, and have limited ability to generate heat by shivering, relying instead on non-shivering thermogenesis (metabolizing brown fat) — drying the newborn immediately, skin-to-skin contact, and delaying the first bath are standard measures to prevent cold stress, which can increase oxygen and glucose demand at a time the newborn is already adjusting.