Virginia Apgar (1909-1974), US physician, using a stethoscope to assess the health of a newborn baby on 2nd October 1966. Apgar graduated from Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts, USA, in 1929, and Columbia University, New York, USA, in 1933. She specialised in anaesthesia and childbirth. She is famous for introducing the Apgar Score in 1953. This is a test used to assess the heath of babies when they are born. They are assessed on heart rate, respiration, muscle tone, skin colour, and reflex irritability.