Apgar Scoring System in Brazil's Live Births Records: Differences between Home and Hospital Births

OBJECTIVE: To promote informed choice for women and to compare home and hospital births in relation to the Apgar score. METHODS: Mother's profile and Apgar score of naturally born infants (without forceps assistance) in Brazil between 2011 and 2015, in both settings-hospital or home-were collected from live birth records provided by the Informatics Department of the Unified Health System (DATASUS, in the Portuguese acronym). For the analysis, were included only data from low-risk deliveries, including gestational time between 37 and 41 weeks, singleton pregnancy, at least four visits of prenatal care, infants weighing between 2,500 g, and 4,000 g, mother age between 20-40 years old, and absence of congenital anomalies. RESULTS: Home birth infants presented significantly higher risk of 0-5 Apgar scores, both in 1 minute (6.4% versus 3%, odds ratio [OR] = 2.2, confidence interval [CI] IC 2-2.4) and in 5 minutes (4.8% versus 0.4%, OR = 11.5, CI 10.5-12.7). Another finding is related to recovery estimates when from an initially bad 1-minute Apgar (< 6) to a subsequently better 5-minute Apgar (> 6). In this scenario, home infants had poorer recovery, Apgar score was persistently < 6 throughout the fifth minute in most cases (71% versus 10.7%, OR 20.4, CI 17-24.6). CONCLUSION: The results show worse Apgar scores for babies born at home, compared with those born at the hospital setting. This is a pioneer and preliminary study that brings attention concerning differences in Apgar score related to home versus hospital place of birth in Brazil.