In Science, Medicine, technology – often theories & techniques keep changing !! ~ ever heard of Apgar score ??
The birth of a
child brings immense joy to all concerned.There is nothing greater in life than being blessed with a baby and
seeing it for the first time, as the Doctor shows the new born is the greatest
ecstasy -newborns are traditionally
whisked off to a bath within the first few hours of their birth. But that is
changing as in Western countries, Doctors and changing hospital protocols are
proving that the concept of delayed bathing—waiting at least 8 to 12 hours to
clean a newborn—is more than just a growing trend of wanting to spend more QT
with your newborn.It is stated that the
benefits of delayed bathing are gaining
more prominence in the medical field, with many hospitals recommending against
baby getting a bath for the first six to 12 hours after birth.
Back home in
Bengaluru, an abandoned newborn got a
new lease of life after a policewoman went beyond of her line of duty to save
him on Friday, June 1. Hidden among the rubble of a construction site, the baby
struggled for his life when Bengaluru Police’s Archana leapt into action and
took the newborn onto her lap and breastfed the child. The city police
applauded Archana’s quick thinking and offered gratitude to her for saving the
newborn’s life. The police team acknowledged her action by sharing her picture
with the baby on their official twitter handle. “We salute our COP Smt.
Archana, @BlrCityPolice for her kind motherhood affection of breastfeeding and
rescuing an abandoned infant, while in her maternity,” the tweet read.
In Ahmedabad, to prevent death of newborns due to lack of
medical emergency facilities in health centres, the Gujarat government has
decided to launch a dedicated ambulance service to shift critically ill infants
to better equipped hospitals. Under the 'Neonatal ambulance service project for
inter-hospital transfer', the government would deploy 10 specially-equipped
ambulances across the state, a senior health official said.
Obstetrics and
gynecology are medical specialties that focus on two different aspects of the
female reproductive system. Obstetrics deals with the care of the pregnant
women, the unborn baby, labor and delivery and the immediate period following
childbirth. The obstetrician ensures that mother and child get the best
prenatal care to ensure labor and delivery is accomplished without
complications and that should intervention be needed, it is done quickly and
safely. Gynecology deals with any ailment concerning the reproductive organs;
uterus, fallopian tubes, cervix, ovaries and vagina.
Apgar score :"Each newborn is given a score of 0, 1, or 2 (a score of 2 meaning the newborn is in optimal condition, 0 being in distress) in each of the following categories: heart rate, respiration, colour, muscle tone, and reflex irritability. The scores were to be given to a newborn one minute after birth, and additional scores could be given in five-minute increments to guide treatment if the newborn's condition did not sufficiently improve."The Apgar scale is determined by evaluating the newborn baby on five simple criteria on a scale from zero to two, then summing up the five values thus obtained. The resulting Apgar score ranges from zero to 10. The five criteria are summarized using words chosen to form a backronym (Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity, Respiration)..
Today's
(7th June 2018) Google doodle
is celebrating what would have been the 109th birthday of American anesthesiologist Dr
Virginia Apgar. She may not be a well-known name everywhere
but she worked heavily in obstetrics and
is responsible for creating the "Apgar score" which is given to
newborns to quickly assess their health.
During her career
she was the first woman to become a professor at the prestigious Columbia
University College of Physicians and Surgeons (P&S) in 1949. She became
committed to lowering the USA's infant mortality rate by trying to investigate
the first 24 hours of an infant's life and document trends to distinguish healthy
babies from unhealthy ones. During her career, Dr. Apgar traveled widely and
gave lectures across the US. She also published over sixty scientific articles
and became well-known in the field of teratology - the study of birth defects.
She co-wrote a book
in 1972 called "Is My Baby All Right?" which explained the causes and
treatment of a variety of common birth defects. It also proposes precautions to
help improve women's chances of having a healthy baby. she was given three
honorary doctorates during her career, from the Women's Medical College of
Pennsylvania, Mount Holyoke College and the New Jersey College of Medicine and
Dentistry. Even during her busy career, she maintained a variety of interests
that included music, fishing and stamp collecting. She even took flying lessons
in her fifities. She never married, and
died in Aug 1974.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
7th June
2018.
