The New Ballard Score www.ballardscore.

com
NEUROMUSCULAR MATURITY
MATURITY RATING
SCORE SIGN TOTAL SCORE WEEKS
SIGN
-1 0 1 2 3 4 5 SCORE -10 20

-5 22
Posture
0 24
Square
5 26
Window
10 28
Arm
Recoil 15 30

Popliteal 20 32
Angle 25 34
Scarf 30 36
Sign
35 38
Heel To
40 40
Ear
45 42
TOTAL NEUROMUSCULAR SCORE
50 44

SCORE
SIGN SIGN SCORE Gestation by Dates
-1 0 1 2 3 4 5

Sticky, gelatinous, superficial cracking, parchment,

leathery, weeks
smooth pink,
Skin
friable,
transparent
red,
translucent
visible veins
peeling &/or
rash, few veins
pale areas,
rare veins
deep cracking,
no vessels
cracked, Birth date Hour
wrinkled am
pm
none sparse abundant thinning bald areas mostly bald
Lanugo

APGAR 1 min 5min

heel-toe anterior
Plantar >50 mm faint red creases ant. creases over
40-50mm: -1 transverse
no crease marks 2/3 entire sole
<40mm: -2 crease only
Surface
raised
barely flat areola stippled areola full areola
imperceptable areola
Breast perceptable no bud 1-2 mm bud 5-10 mm bud
3-4 mm bud
Scoring
formed &
lids fused
loosely: -1
lids open
pinna flat
sl. curved
pinna; soft;
well-curved
pinna; soft but
firm thick cartilage Gest. Age
Eye / Ear instant ear stiff
tightly: -2 stays folded slow recoil ready recoil
recoil by Maturity
Genitals scrotum flat,
scrotum testes in testes testes testes Rating ________weeks
empty, upper canal, descending, down, pendulous,
(Male)
smooth
faint rugae rare rugae few rugae good rugae deep rugae Time of
prominent prominent majora Exam Date_________
clitoris majora & majora cover
Genitals clitoris & clitoris & large,
prominent &
small labia enlarging
minora equally
minora
clitoris & am
labia flat prominent minora
(Female) minora minora small
Hour______ pm
TOTAL PHYSICAL MATURITY SCORE Age at Exam
_________hours
Signature of Examiner

M.D. / R.N.
References :
Ballard JL, Khoury JC, Wedig K, et al: New Ballard Score, expanded to include extremely premature
infants. J Pediatrics 1991; 119:417-423.
http://ballardscore.com/Pages/ScoreSheet.aspx