Rising global temperatures and increasingly intense heatwaves, driven by climate change, are significantly heightening the risk of serious complications during pregnancy, a new report revealed on Wednesday.
Pregnant women exposed to extreme heat are already known to face greater risks of premature birth, stillbirth, birth defects, and gestational diabetes. Now, a study from the US-based research group Climate Central has measured just how much this risk has grown in recent years due to human-driven climate change.
Analysing data from 247 countries and territories, the report found that in 222 of them, climate change has at least doubled the average number of annual days during which pregnant women are exposed to dangerously high temperatures.
The steepest increases were recorded in low- and middle-income regions — particularly in the Caribbean, sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, Central and South America, and the Pacific — where healthcare systems are often ill-equipped to deal with the consequences.
Though the report focused on the rise in extreme heat days rather than direct medical outcomes, experts say the implications for maternal health are serious.
Dr Ana Bonell, a researcher specialising in maternal health and extreme heat at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who was not involved in the study, said the findings offer “clear evidence of the growing exposure risk to extreme heat”.
She added that the conclusions may also apply to other vulnerable groups such as the elderly, who are also at increased risk during periods of intense heat.
Despite growing evidence linking extreme heat to adverse health outcomes, the physiological mechanisms behind these effects are still not fully understood. “There are still many unknowns,” Bonell told AFP.
A major study published in Nature Medicine in 2024 estimated that heatwaves increase the likelihood of pregnancy complications by 25 percent.
Local Solutions Needed Alongside Global Action
While reducing global carbon emissions remains the long-term goal to curb climate change, experts say immediate, local interventions are urgently needed to help communities adapt to the increasing threat of extreme heat.
French epidemiologist Lucie Adelaide, commenting in support of the new report, recommended steps such as greening urban areas, cutting air pollution, providing shaded or cool public spaces, and issuing tailored health alerts to the public.
Importantly, Adelaide called for more specific guidance for pregnant women in public health campaigns about the risks of heatwaves — a group often overlooked in official messaging.
With heatwaves becoming more frequent and intense, especially in vulnerable regions, public health experts warn that safeguarding maternal wellbeing must become a greater priority in climate resilience planning.