More heat, more risk of premature birth: how the climate crisis affects pregnant women
A report warns that Barcelona has 28 more days a year with high temperatures.
BarcelonaThe climate crisis has a direct impact on people's health: the incidence of diseases increases, virus spread accelerates And there is increased preventable mortality associated with high temperatures. Now, a report by Climate Central—a US-based climate change communications and research organization—warns that extreme heat is also a direct threat to maternal health, as it increases the risk of premature birth. According to this analysis, in Barcelona, between 2020 and 2024, there were an average of 28 additional days of risky heat during pregnancy each year. This means that, due to the effects of the climate emergency, days of extreme heat that put the health of pregnant women at risk have increased by 68% in the Catalan capital.
Climate Central has analyzed daily temperatures over the last four years in 247 countries and 940 cities to measure the increase in heat-related risk days during pregnancy—that is, those days when maximum temperatures exceed 95% of local historical temperatures. "Barcelona is one of the regions where temperatures are rising most rapidly. The Mediterranean is one of the areas in the world where they have grown the most in recent years," warns Hicham Achebak, a researcher at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), who was not involved in this report.
The expert explains that this situation is associated with a higher risk of premature birth, which can have lifelong effects on the health of the baby and the mother after birth. According to data from the Statistical Institute of Catalonia (Idescat), the percentage of premature births in our country has increased from 5.9% in 2019 to 6.40% in 2023, the latest year for which data is available. The same is happening in Barcelona, which has experienced even greater growth: from 5.72% to 6.46% between 2019 and 2023. And all of this is taking place in a context of declining birth rates.
According to the report's findings, all countries analyzed have experienced an increase in risky heat days during pregnancy between 2020 and 2024. In fact, climate change has doubled the number of days per year when there is a greater risk for citizens, with almost 90% of them having limited access to healthcare. Regions such as the Caribbean, Central America, South America, the Pacific Islands, Southeast Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa are the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change and have added the highest number of risk days for pregnant women, despite being the ones that contribute the least to greenhouse gas emissions.
The Balearic Islands, the most affected
Spain is not immune to this upward trend: it has experienced an average of 22 additional days of risky heat during pregnancy each year between 2020 and 2024. By autonomous community, the Balearic Islands have recorded 28 more days, ahead of Castilla-La Mancha (26), Catalonia, the Valencian Community and Mú. As for the data by city, however, Barcelona is the one that has recorded the largest number of additional days of risky heat during pregnancy each year, with 28. This is followed by Madrid, Valencia, and Seville, with 25, 22, and 11 days, respectively.
The report's authors insist that extreme heat is one of the most dangerous climate risks to maternal and child health. Research links high temperatures during pregnancy with an increased risk of complications such as hypertension, gestational diabetes, hospitalization, stillbirth, and premature birth, which can lead to lifelong health impacts for children. However, Achebak clarifies that more studies are needed to determine the true impact of these high temperatures on maternal health for women in the countries analyzed, since the report only quantifies the risk of complications.
However, the researcher argues that regardless of the actual cases of premature births that have occurred in the last four years, fossil fuel emissions, such as coal, oil, and gas, must be reduced. "We will avoid many direct impacts of climate change on our health," he reasons. The report's authors have taken a similar position, arguing that reducing these emissions will not only be good for the planet, but will also be a "crucial step" to protect the health of pregnant women and babies around the world.