Exposure to extremely hot weather raises pregnant women’s risk of severe health complications, a new study has found.
July and August were the hottest months worldwide. Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the new study highlights the risks of extreme hot weather, which has become more common recently.
According to Bloomberg, the new research, which ran over 11 years, looked at data of 400,000 pregnant women registered in the health system of South California.
Being exposed to prolonged high temperatures is linked to higher risks of complications like sepsis, death from minor infection and serious increase in blood pressure, by as much as 27% in pregnant women.
The researchers said the link between extreme heat and pregnancy complications was more significant among mothers with a lower education, indicating that income and socioeconomic status play a major role in determining the effect of temperatures on people.
“Our observation of worse health outcomes among women with lower socioeconomic status may reflect the broader impacts of the persistent and pervasive social injustice issues,” said the researchers from several universities in California and China.
They added that several factors could explain the link between high temperatures and complications. For instance, losing a lot of fluids could raise the risk of sepsis, while the mental pressure caused by the heat could lead to higher risk of heart problems, inflammation and blood coagulation.
Heart problems are among the most prevalent causes of pregnancy-related deaths, according to data of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Pregnant women are more prone to feel the extreme heat, and can be affected by heat exhaustion faster than non-pregnant women.
The new study also suggests that green spaces exposure could help mitigate the effects of extreme heat during pregnancy.
