Climate Change Is Putting Pregnant Women At Risk: Extreme Heat Now A Growing Danger To Mothers, Babies

(MENAFN- AsiaNet News) Climate change is making pregnancy more dangerous in almost every country in the world. A new study shows that, from 2020 to 2024, dangerously hot days for pregnant people have more than doubled in nearly 90% of countries and 63% of cities across the globe. These high-temperature days are strongly linked to early births and serious health risks for both mothers and babies.

The study was done by Climate Central, a non-profit group that looks at how climate change is affecting our daily lives. It is the first study of its kind to show how much climate change has added to the number of hot days that are dangerous for pregnant people.

What is a pregnancy heat-risk day?

A pregnancy heat-risk day is a day when temperatures go above the level that's hotter than 95% of past temperatures in that area. These days are not just uncomfortable-they can increase the risk of preterm births, which can cause long-term health problems for babies. They also raise the risk of high blood pressure, gestational diabetes, hospitalisation, stillbirth, and other serious pregnancy complications.

What the study found

Every country in the study saw an increase in pregnancy heat-risk days due to climate change, especially because of burning coal, oil, and gas.

In 222 out of 247 countries and territories, climate change at least doubled the number of dangerously hot days for pregnant people in the past 5 years.

In 78 countries, climate change added over a month's worth of risky heat days for pregnant people every year.

In some places, every single dangerously hot day in the past five years was due to climate change. These countries would not have had any heat-risk days if climate change hadn't happened.

The biggest increases were seen in developing countries, such as those in the Caribbean, South America, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, and Africa-places that have contributed least to the climate crisis but are hit the hardest.

Why this matters

Extreme heat is now one of the biggest dangers to pregnant people worldwide. The hotter it gets, the more health problems pregnant people face. And the problem is worse in countries where hospitals and healthcare systems are already weak.

Doctors say even one very hot day can raise the risk of complications during pregnancy. And if we do not act now to cut fossil fuel emissions, the problem will only get worse.

How the study measured the impact

The study used two main tools:

Pregnancy heat-risk days: They counted how many days in each place had temperatures above the 95% level-these are the days linked to preterm births.

Climate Shift Index (CSI): This tool helped figure out how many of these risky heat days were caused specifically by climate change, by comparing current data to what the world would look like without human-caused warming.

Experts on climate crisis

“Even one day of extreme heat can make a pregnancy more risky,” said Dr. Kristina Dahl from Climate Central.

“This is a crisis. Burning fossil fuels is not just hurting the planet-it's putting mothers and babies in danger,” added Dr. Bruce Bekkar, a women's health expert.

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