Report Summary
Extreme heat poses dangerous risks to global maternal health and birth outcomes. Heat exposure during pregnancy has been linked to higher risks of complications like hypertension, gestational diabetes, maternal hospitalizations, and severe maternal morbidity. It’s also associated with an increased risk of adverse outcomes such as stillbirth and preterm birth (before 37 weeks), the latter of which can have lasting health effects on the baby.
Human-caused climate change has raised global average temperatures and made dangerous extreme heat events a more common risk around the world. This analysis quantifies how climate change is influencing the frequency of extreme heat associated with increased risks of preterm birth and examines where pregnant people are most at risk.
Key Findings
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During 2020 to 2024, nearly one-third of analyzed countries and territories (78 out of 247) experienced at least one additional month's worth of pregnancy heat-risk days on average annually due to climate change.
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In most countries (222), climate change at least doubled the average annual number of pregnancy heat-risk days experienced during the past five years, compared to a world without climate change.
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The greatest increases in pregnancy heat-risk days due to climate change during the period of analysis occurred primarily in developing regions with limited access to healthcare — most notably in the Caribbean, as well as parts of Central and South America, the Pacific Islands, Southeast Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa.