Apgar score of less than 7 at 5 minutes for birth at or after term
Apgar scores are clinical indicators of a baby’s condition shortly after birth, with a score of less than 7 indicating potential complications for the baby. For more information, see Clinical commentary.
This indicator examines those liveborn babies with an Apgar score of less than 7 at 5 minutes for births at or after term (37 weeks of gestation or more).
Key findings
In 2023, 1.5% of liveborn babies born at or after term had an Apgar score of less than 7 at 5 minutes.
This proportion:
- has increased slightly from 0.9% in 2004 to 1.5% in 2023, but has been relatively stable since 2013
- was highest in babies born to mothers aged younger than 20 (2.3% in 2023) compared with other age groups
- was higher for babies born in public hospitals (1.7%) than private hospitals (1.0%) in 2023.
The interactive data visualisation (Figure 13) presents data for live births at or after term with an Apgar score of less than 7 at 5 minutes. Use the drop-down menus to view data by selected characteristics and the latest year button to explore data for 2023.
Figure 13: Apgar score of less than 7 at 5 minutes for births at or after term
This data visualisation presents data on Apgar score. Interactive charts show proportions for the most recent data and over time, for selected demographic and birth characteristics.
Clinical commentary
An Apgar score is based on five characteristics of the baby: skin colour, pulse, breathing, muscle tone and reflex irritability. Each characteristic is given between 0 and 2 points, with a total score between 0 and 10 points. An Apgar score of 7 or more at 5 minutes after birth indicates the baby is adapting well to the environment, while a score of less than 7 indicates an increased risk of complications for the baby (AIHW 2025; Apgar 2015).
Apgar scores at 5 minutes of less than 7 are not specific to any condition and may reflect congenital anomaly, prematurity, perinatal infection, effects of drugs given to the mother for pain relief or anaesthesia, ineffective resuscitation or prolonged hypoxia before birth (Li et al. 2013). Babies with an Apgar score of less than 7 at 5 minutes have an increased likelihood of requiring resuscitation and admission to the special care nursery or neonatal intensive care unit. Low birthweight babies, pre-term babies and babies with a breech presentation accounted for a higher proportion of all liveborn babies born with Apgar scores less than 7 in 2023 (AIHW 2025). Maternal factors such as increased maternal age, obesity, maternal morbidity, especially diabetes, and maternal smoking during pregnancy, may contribute to a baby being born with a low Apgar score (Kharkova et al. 2017; Straube et al. 2010; Zhu et al. 2015).
Indicator specifications and data
Excel source data tables are available from Data.
For more information, refer to Data specifications and Methods.
AIHW (2025) Australia’s mothers and babies, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 18 August 2025.
Apgar V (2015) ‘A proposal for a new method of evaluation of the newborn infant’, Anesthesia & Analgesia, 120(5):1056–1059, doi:10.1213/ane.0b013e31829bdc5c.
Kharkova O, Grjibovski A, Krettek A, Nieboer E and Odland J (2017) ‘Effect of smoking behaviour before and during pregnancy on selected birth outcomes among singleton full-term pregnancy: A Murmask country birth registry study’, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 14(8):867, doi:10.3390/ijerph14080867.
Li F, Wu T, Lei X, Zhang H, Mao M and Zhang J (2013) ‘The Apgar score and infant mortality’, PLOS One, 8(7):e69072, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0069072.
Straube S, Voigt M, Jorch G, Hallier E, Briese V and Borchardt U (2010) ‘Investigation of the association of Apgar score with maternal socio-economics and biological factors: an analysis of German perinatal statistics’, Archives of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, 282(2):135–141, doi:10.1007/s00404-009-1217-7.
Zhu T, Tang J, Zhao F, Qu Y and Mu D (2015) ‘Association between maternal obesity and offspring Apgar score or cord pH: a systematic review and meta-analysis’, Scientific Reports, 5:18386, doi:10.1038/srep18386.