Study: Exposure to extreme heat increases the likelihood of premature birth by 26%

Studies have confirmed that exposure to extreme heat can cause health damage from pregnancy through childhood, leading to a 26% increase in the likelihood of a premature birth.

The study explained that newborns are increasingly exposed to heat, as infants under one year old were exposed to days of extreme heatwaves with a 389% increase in 2024 compared to the baseline reference period from 1986 to 2005.

Global estimates indicate that the number of children exposed to heatwaves, which have become increasingly frequent, prolonged, and severe, is about 1.5 billion children.

Bruce Gordon, the organization's Director of the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health and the "One Health" approach, stated that the continued rise in global temperatures poses new health risks, and that the elderly, pregnant women, newborns, and children are among the groups least able to avoid them.

He added: "Our health systems must be equipped with the necessary data to understand this reality and take the necessary actions, starting from protecting people during heatwaves to integrating climate change risk considerations into daily health services."

The new report recommends that countries monitor cases of preterm birth, stillbirth, low birth weight, high blood pressure during pregnancy, child mortality, and rates of health facility visits during extreme heatwaves. Monitoring school attendance rates can also help reveal how heat affects children's lives.

For her part, Dr. Pascale Allotey, the organization's Director of the Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research and the Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing Department, explained that heat actually affects the most vulnerable population groups, such as pregnant women, newborns, and children, but that health systems cannot address challenges that are not included in their statistics.

She pointed out that countries can, by tracking outcomes such as preterm births, child mortality, illnesses, and health facility visit rates in conjunction with exposure to heatwaves, identify potential impacts and take the necessary measures to protect women and children.

Routinely collected health data and data related to heat exposure, such as air temperature, can help identify potential heat-related indicators, enabling countries to monitor unusual changes during periods of extreme heatwaves, conduct further investigations, and take necessary actions.

This information can also help health authorities equip health facilities with what is needed to meet increased demand, strengthen warnings directed at pregnant women and their families, identify the most vulnerable communities, and improve health planning for responding to heatwaves.

Given the increasing frequency of extreme heatwaves, which have become a fast-paced and inherent feature of our warming world, the organization calls on countries to strengthen their capacity to monitor and respond to the health impacts of these waves.

By applying the new priority indicators included in this report, governments can enhance their ability to identify risks, implement targeted interventions, and protect pregnant women, newborns, and children from avoidable harm.

The organization also urges all countries to develop and implement heat-health action plans tailored to their local context, consider the needs of these vulnerable population groups, strengthen early warning systems, and accelerate immediate action as soon as heat risks emerge.