New Delhi: Climate change is one of those catastrophes that heavily impacts pregnant women, newborn babies and children. According to UNICEF, climate change poses an existential threat to all of us which needs urgent attention. Moreover, a recent study has found that exposure to high levels of heat could negatively impact the growth of foetuses in the womb and infants up to two years of age. The study was conducted after an analysis was done on over 600 pregnancies in the West African country.
The study’s findings have been published in The Lancet Planetary Health Journal. According to the findings, for each degree Celsius spike in average daily heat in the first trimester of pregnancy, the weight of a baby at birth associated with the gestation period was found to be reduced. One of the complications of heat stress is when the body’s ability to regulate temperature is compromised.
The study was led by researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK, and followed a total of 668 infants out of them half were girls and half boys for their first 1,000 days of life. During the study, 66 infants or 10 per cent of them were found to weigh under 2.5 kilograms, described as a low birth weight by the researchers. On the other hand, about a third of the infants 218 were found to be small for gestational age, while nine infants were born prematurely.
Infants aged between 6-18 months experienced higher heat stress
Further, the study noted that infants who were between the ages of 6 and 18 months experienced higher levels of daily heat stress in the early three-month period which was found to be the most affected. This is a first-of-its-kind study that indicates heat stress can hamper the growth and development of infants after birth, as per the researchers. The researchers also added that as the climate changes and becomes extreme, the effect of exposure to heat exposure must be considered for urgent attention.
Dangers of climate change on pregnancy
Fetal growth: Extreme heat can impact fetal growth, especially in the second and third trimesters
Birth outcomes: High temperatures are associated with adverse birth outcomes like preterm birth, stillbirth and low fetal weight
Pregnancy complications: Heat also increases the dangers of hypertension and gestational diabetes during pregnancy
Dehydration: Pregnancy makes it difficult for the body to cool down and is more likely to become dehydrated
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