Assessment
New Ballard Score → Gestational Age
Score the 12 criteria on your unit's standard Ballard sheet first, then enter the total here to convert it to estimated gestational age.
Total Ballard score
Estimated gestational age
Each 5-point increase in total score corresponds to about 2 additional weeks of gestation, across the full -10 to 50 range.
The 12 criteria you're summing
- Neuromuscular — Posture
- Resting flexion of arms and legs
- Neuromuscular — Square window
- Wrist flexion angle
- Neuromuscular — Arm recoil
- Elbow flexion after brief extension
- Neuromuscular — Popliteal angle
- Knee extension resistance
- Neuromuscular — Scarf sign
- How far the elbow crosses the chest
- Neuromuscular — Heel to ear
- Hip flexibility bringing the foot toward the head
- Physical — Skin
- Texture, from sticky/transparent to leathery/cracked
- Physical — Lanugo
- Fine body hair, from none to thinning to bald
- Physical — Plantar surface
- Sole creases, from smooth to covering the whole foot
- Physical — Breast
- Areola and breast bud development
- Physical — Eye/ear
- Lid fusion, ear cartilage and recoil
- Physical — Genitals
- Testes/scrotum (male) or labia (female) development
Each criterion is individually scored (roughly -1/-2 to 4/5 points depending on the sign) on the standard printed Ballard sheet — this page converts the final total, it does not replace the sheet.
Clinical decision support only. The New Ballard Score is an estimate with an accepted margin of error of about ±2 weeks, most accurate when performed within 12–24 hours of birth. Use it alongside, not instead of, obstetric dating (early ultrasound, last menstrual period) when available.