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During the 1930s and '40s, Dr. Virginia Apgar noticed a troubling trend involving newborns.
While the infant mortality rate in the US had declined, the rate of infant deaths within the first 24 hours after birth remained constant. As an obstetric anesthesiologist, Apgar was able to identify physical characteristics that could distinguish healthy newborns from those in trouble.
Apgar's observations led to the development in 1952 of the Apgar score, a quick and convenient method for immediately evaluating how well the newborn weathered the birthing process, especially the effects of obstetric anesthesia.
To honor Apgar's contribution to neonatology -- the medical care of newborn infants -- Google dedicated its Doodle Thursday to the doctor on her 109th birthday.
Generally conducted one and five minutes after birth, the test assigns a score of zero to two for each of five criteria: appearance, pulse, grimace, activity and respiration (APGAR). Scores of seven and higher are generally normal, four to six fairly low, and three and lower are generally regarded as critically low. The test helps medical personnel determine whether a newborn needs immediate medical care.
The test spread through US hospitals in the 1960s, proving a useful measurement for quickly assessing a newborn's physical condition. The technique is still used in hospitals throughout the US.
Apgar graduated fourth in her class at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1933, and in 1949 became the first woman named a full professor at the school.
In 1959, she embarked on a second career, earning a master's degree in public health from Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health. Armed with her new degree, she went to work at the March of Dimes Foundation, directing research to prevent and treat birth defects.
She also published more than 60 scientific articles and several essays for newspapers and magazines during her career. Her 1972 book Is My Baby All Right? explains the causes and treatment of common birth defects and proposes precautions to help improve the chances of having a healthy baby.
Apgar died at the age of 65 in 1974.
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PIONEERING doctor Virginia Apgar’s extraordinary life has been celebrated as a Google Doodle.
Let’s take a closer look at the ground-breaking physician.
Dr Virginia Apgar is celebrated by Google on her 109th birthday
Who is Dr Virginia Apgar?
Born in New Jersey in 1909 to a musical family, Apgar always had a keen interest in science and left school knowing she wanted to be a doctor.
She initially studied zoology, chemistry and physiology before attending Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.
However, she was discouraged from pursuing surgery by Dr Allen Whipple at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center who instead advised her to study anaesthesiology.
She eventually became a leading figure in the fields of anaesthesiology and teratology.
The doctor developed a newborn infant's neonatal prognosis, known as the Apgar Score, which is taken within minutes of birth and has become standard practice in hospitals worldwide.
After starting work in New York in 1933, Dr Apgar was disturbed by the treatment of newborn babies particularly those who were malformed or had troubled breathing.
To her astonishment, infants who were blue or were struggling to breathe were listed as stillborn and left to die.
This prompted the fiercely passionate physician to develop her score, which has a range of zero to ten based on a tot’s condition.
It soon became clear that a baby with a poor rating could be resuscitated, by oxygen and warming, to a good score in around five minutes.
Thanks in part to Apgar’s work, the death rate for newborns in the US has dropped from one in 30 in the 1950s to one in 500 today.
Known for her boundless energy and sense of humour, Dr Apgar never married or had children.
She died of cirrhosis of the liver on August 7, 1974.
Getty - Contributor Dr Virginia Apgar developed the Apgar Score
Why is the American doctor being celebrated by Google?
On June 7, 2018, search giant Google marked what would have been Dr Apgar’s 109th birthday with a Google Doodle.
What is a Google Doodle?
In 1998, the search engine founders Larry and Sergey drew a stick figure behind the second 'o' of Google as a message to that they were out of office at the Burning Man festival and with that, Google Doodles were born.
The company decided that they should decorate the logo to mark cultural moments and it soon became clear that users really enjoyed the change to the Google homepage.
In that same year, a turkey was added to Thanksgiving and two pumpkins appeared as the 'o's for Halloween the following year.
MORE GOOGLE DOODLES SIEL'S THE MANN A Google Doodle is honouring German filmmaker Heinz Zielmann today ACID TEST Who was SPL Sørensen on Google Doodle and when was the pH scale invented? MAPPY CHAPPY A Google Doodle is celebrating the man behind the first atlas of the world THE BARONESS WITH A BRUSH Iconic Polish painter Tamara de Lempicka marked by Google Doodle SIGN OF THE TIMES Maria Reiche honoured by Google Doodle - here's why
Now, there is a full team of doodlers, illustrators, graphic designers, animators and classically trained artists who help create what you see on those days.
Among the Doodles published in 2018 were ones commemorating cartographer Abraham Ortelius, Egyptian actor Omar Sharif and St Patrick's Day.
Earlier in the year, the search giant celebrated the Paralympics in 2018 in Pyeongchang with an animated design celebrating each of the sports the winter Paralympians will compete in.
The history of Google Doodles, what they are and where they came from
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Virginia Apgar, the American obstetrical anesthetist who is renowned as the inventor of the Apgar score, has been honoured in the Google Doodle for June 7, 2018 on what would have been her 109th birthday.
Dr. Virginia Apgar remains an important figure in neonatology to this day, due to the standardised method that she created to assess a newborn baby’s health continuing to be used.
For this life-saving discovery, Apgar has also received many accolades for improving the infant mortality rate in the US. But who was Dr. Virginia Apgar?
Virginia Apgar has been honoured in the Google Doodle for June 7, 2018 on her 109th birthday
Who was Virginia Apgar?
Born on June 7, 1909, in Westfield, New Jersey to a father who was an insurance executive but had an interest in invention and astronomy, Virginia was also encouraged to take an interest in science.
In addition to this, her career in medicine could have also been as a result of one of her brothers dying of tuberculosis and another suffering from a chronic illness.
After leaving high school, Virginia knew she wanted to become a doctor and went on to study zoology with minors in physiology and chemistry at Mount Holyoke College in 1929.
She then graduated fourth in her class from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, where she also completed a residency in 1937.
However, because so many female surgeons had tried to launch their careers but had ultimately failed, Virginia was discouraged from moving her career in this direction by Dr. Allen Whipple.
She was encouraged to practice anesthesiology and trained under Dr. Ralph Waters at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the first anesthesiology department in the US.
After training under Dr. Ernest Rovenstine in New York, Virginia became a fully-fledged anesthesiologist in 1927 and went back to P&S to become the director of a new division of anesthesia for 10 years.
In 1959, Virginia graduated with Master of Public Health from John Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health.
She went on to work to conduct research on birth defects for the March of Dimes Foundation and linked gestational age to the problem of premature birth.
Apgar was also an advocate for universal vaccination during the rubella pandemic of 1964-5 and travelled the US, spreading the message of how important birth defect detection is.
She has published over 60 scientific articles as well as other shorter essays for newspapers and magazines, for which she has received many awards.
Her 1972 book Is My Baby All Right? explains the causes and treatment of common birth defects and proposes precautions to help improve the chances of having a healthy baby.
Dr. Virginia Apgar never married and died of cirrhosis of the liver on August 7, 1974 at Colombia-Presbyterian Medical Center.
Apgar score
The US infant mortality rate between the 1930s and 1950s decreased despite the number of infant deaths within the first 24 hours after birth remaining constant.
Apgar picked up on this and investigated trends that revealed the difference between healthy infants and babies in trouble.
After intensive research, Virginia invented a method of measuring how healthy a newborn baby is, which was called the Apgar score.
This widely used technique gives every newborn a score of 0, 1 or 2, with 2 meaning that the baby is in optimal condition, for appearance, pulse, grimace, activity and respiration (APGAR).
The scores for the five categories are then compiled and an infant with a 10 would be in the best possible condition.
A baby is scored one minute after birth with additional measurements being made at five minute intervals if the infant’s condition did not improve.
What is a Google Doodle?
Virginia Apgar has been honoured in the Google Doodle for June 7, 2018, on what would have been her 109th birthday.
Google Doodles mark important events around the world with creative illustrations on the search engine’s homepage and is incorporated into the Google logo.
The first Google Doodle marked Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin’s visit to the 1998 Burning Man Festival and was a stick-man standing behind the second ‘o’ in the Google logo.
Today, a team of illustrators, graphic designers, animators and artists work on the Google Doodles and the logos are hyperlinked to a page that provides more information about the cultural event celebrated.
Recent Google Doodles have celebrated Tom Longboat, Heinz Sielmann and S.P.L Sorensen.
