Preterm births rise by 18 percent when temperatures run high in the last month of pregnancy, according to a Reuters analysis of 18 years of records covering more than eight million births in Mexico, reported by Prothom Alo.
Researchers say heat may be linked to illness in the mother, weakness in the baby and premature birth. Pregnant women can develop dangerously high blood pressure, and the risks of birth defects, early miscarriage and stillbirth can rise. Babies born too early can face a risk of death after birth and, if they survive, complications for years.
What matters is what a body is used to. People's bodies adapt to the normal range of temperature where they live, and just one degree Celsius above that can harm a pregnant woman. The same kind of effect has been seen in hot deserts, humid forests and temperate highlands alike.
The report says studies from China, Australia, South Africa and the United States have also pointed to risks for pregnant women from extra heat. Researchers are not yet sure exactly why it happens.
Work on reducing the risk is continuing, and some countries are already introducing precautions such as wide-brimmed hats and roofs painted white. The Prothom Alo writer, Rafia Alam, argues that families, workplaces and communities in Bangladesh also have room to take more care of pregnant women in the heat.
Source: Prothom Alo
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