London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

The study, published in Nature Medicine, investigated the effects of extreme heat events on pregnant women and their newborns in sub-Saharan Africa, an area particularly impacted by extreme heat.

The study team, including researchers at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), examined 138,000 births at 16 hospitals in four countries in sub-Saharan Africa: Benin, Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda. Researchers analysed the relationship between high temperatures in the final week of pregnancy and death of newborns before, during, or within 24 hours after birth.

Professor Claudia Hanson, lead author, LSHTM and Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, said: “While temperatures are rising in sub-Saharan Africa, knowledge of how they affect pregnant women and their babies is scant.” 

The study found that pregnant women exposed to high temperatures in the week before childbirth had a 34% higher risk of perinatal death (a death just before, during, or within 24 hours after birth), a risk that doubled during the six hottest months of the year. Unlike in many other countries, a large proportion – almost half – of all stillbirths occurred during labour.

This study highlights the vulnerability of pregnant women and newborns to heat exposure, particularly in regions already experiences high temperatures. Researchers suggest the need to improve protection of pregnant and labouring women from the effects of extreme heat, emphasising the need for climate adaptation strategies in maternal, neonatal and child health. 

Veronique Filippi, Professor of Maternal Health and Epidemiology at LSHTM, said: “Climate change is an urgent issue that poses significant risks to maternal health, particularly during late pregnancy and childbirth. The Africa region, despite contributing the least to global warming, is one of the most vulnerable continents to the health impacts of rising temperatures. This study is one of the first to show that the increased risk of perinatal deaths occurs not only during pregnancy but also in labour. 

“Maternity services must step up to raise awareness in communities and among health workers, to help women protect themselves from these dangers, and to improve thermal conditions in healthcare facilities for safer care during labour.”

Adapted from the original news story.

Read the full paper.