According to nonprofit news organization Climate Central, climate change is fueling a sharp rise in extreme heat risk for pregnant people worldwide, and their study ranked the Philippines ninth as far as that risk is involved.
The study said that human-caused climate change has doubled the number of days that are dangerously hot for pregnant people in 90 percent of countries around the world, threatening maternal health and birth outcomes.
Climate Central analyzed daily temperatures from 2020 to 2024, across 247 countries and territories and 940 cities to measure the rise in pregnancy heat-risk days, which are extremely hot days associated with higher risks of preterm birth and maternal health complications.
In the Philippines, 30 of the 36 pregnancy heat risk days observed (83 percent) were due to climate change, while Southeast Asia is among the regions most exposed to such risks, with the greatest increases observed in regions with limited access to health care.
“Climate change is increasing extreme heat and stacking the odds against healthy pregnancies worldwide, especially in places where care is already hard to access. The impacts on maternal and infant health are likely to worsen if we don’t stop burning fossil fuels and urgently tackle climate change,” Climate Central vice president for science Kristina Dahl said.
Whether we like it or not, climate change, especially the increased instances of extreme heat, has been affecting everybody, not just the pregnant. The days of uncomfortable heat we have been experiencing during this year’s summer months are a stark reminder of that reality we now live in. This should give us more reason to contribute as much as we can to the effort to rein in the effects of climate change, mostly by being more mindful of the human activities we engage in that either directly or indirectly produce greenhouse gas emissions.
We can do this with ourselves and our families in mind, but maybe if we also consider about those who are pregnant who are suffering right now, along with their unborn children who will have to deal with the worst effects of climate change in their future if we don’t do enough, we might just find the motivation and urgency to do more.*
