"Nobody, but nobody, is going to stop breathing on me."
Virginia Apgar (1909–1974)
Physician
MD 1933
Faculty 1935–59
A pioneer in anesthesiology as well as maternal and child health, Apgar is best known for developing the Apgar score, a systematic assessment of neonatal viability known to medical personnel and parents throughout the world. Apgar is also credited with founding the field of perinatology. As her interests expanded to genetics, she also became instrumental in broadening public understanding of birth defects as a national health problem. She was the coauthor of Is My Baby All Right? in 1973. In 1994, the U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp honoring Apgar as part of its Great Americans series. Former Surgeon General Julius Richmond said, "[She has] done more to improve the health of mothers, babies, and unborn infants than anyone in the twentieth century."
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