Extreme heat putting pregnant women, newborns at risk

United Nations climate chief Simon Stiell warns that extreme heat is putting pregnant women and their newborns at greater risk. At the pre-COP summit in Nadi, Fiji, Stiell will cite a survey conducted by the charitable foundation Wellcome, revealing that over two-thirds of health professionals from five continents have observed complications linked to intense heat during pregnancy within the past five years.

Rising temperatures are increasing the danger of pregnancy, as climate-driven extreme heat during gestation is associated with premature birth, stillbirth, low birth weight, and maternal complications. Stiell will emphasize that this heightened vulnerability due to climate change must not become another stark division of suffering, inequality, and injustice.

Scientists attribute the intensification of extreme weather events to climate change, causing heat records to be broken more frequently. The survey of 1,000 midwives and doctors, commissioned by Wellcome, found that nearly all healthcare professionals have encountered mothers or babies affected by extreme heat, with cases of low birth weight, restricted growth, feeding issues, and dehydration resulting from heat-related illnesses.

Stiell will stress that pregnancy should be a time of hope, but for millions, it is increasingly becoming a period of anxiety as climate impacts permeate daily life with risk. The pre-COP31 summit in Fiji, as well as the upcoming COP31 in Turkey, aim to highlight the frontline of climate change and urge leaders to act on the available evidence and solutions.