Why do we need to know how much someone else's baby weighs?

Factual Questions
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The Apgar is a quick test invented by one Dr. Virginia Apgar, to allow the delivery room folks to make a quick assessment of the baby’s condition at one minute and then five minutes after birth. Although it’s named for the inventor, the name also happens to form a rough mnemonic for what the nurse or whoever is supposed to check: Appearance, Pulse rate, Grimaces, Activity, and Respirations. The nurse can mark down zero, one, or two points in each of those categories, depending on how well or poorly the baby is doing. It’s a very subjective test and has other problems, but for the moment it’s still in use as a rule-of-thumb for checking the baby’s condition.

I don’t know why it’s become expected that new parents tell everyone the weight of their new baby, but it’s definitely a firmly established tradition. If I didn’t mention it after my two boys were born, I’d nearly always get asked. And then they would say “OUCH” although I thought the two deliveries went very well :frowning: And for the record: flodjunior was 4.71kg, flod2k was 4.00kg. Yinz can convert yourself if you really need to know.

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Comparison. :slight_smile:

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I think there are a bunch of things. One is it is a general indicator of health. Next, you kind of wonder what the woman went through. If it is a huge baby, it must be harder to deliver. Finally, what else are you going to ask about the baby? What’s his major? Where did he go to school?

My baby weighed 2.5 pounds when she was born. Isn’t that interesting? She was tiny. She weighed less than a bag of flour! Knowing that she weighed 2.5 pounds, don’t you have other questions? Is she normal weight today–three years later? No. Did she have any surgeries? No. Did she have any physical defects? No. Any learning disabilities? Not that the experts can tell.