How climate change is impacting pregnant women

 Time -  One Climate Central analysis published on May 14 found that extreme heat caused by climate change is posing dangerous risks for maternal health and birth outcomes. Between 2020 to 2024, the average number of pregnancy heat-risk days—defined as days in which maximum temperatures are warmer than 95% of temperatures observed in a given location—doubled in 222 countries. The greatest increase in heat-risk days occurred primarily in developing areas with limited access to health care, including the Caribbean, parts of Central and South America, and sub-Saharan Africa. 

“Pregnant women and their fetuses are more vulnerable to climate-related changes, especially around heat and extreme heat,” says Shruthi Mahalingaiah, associate professor of environmental, reproductive, and women's health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Mahalingaiah adds that, when it comes to extreme heat, someone who is pregnant might not be able to regulate temperatures in the same way as someone who is not. “This is because the pregnant woman’s body is already undergoing vast changes to accommodate supporting a fetus, and it’s harder to regulate and especially cool the fetal environment to a healthy range.”