Pregnancy in a warming world

This week the Climate Change Committee warned that heat is now the UK’s leading climate-related health threat, with recent record-breaking summers set to become the new normal, posing major challenges, especially for keeping vulnerable people safe and cool.

To coincide with this, Peers for the Planet Vice-Chair Rosie Boycott joined a webinar organised by the Wellcome Trust and The Royal Society exploring the growing evidence on how extreme heat affects pregnancy. It was chaired by Sarah Neville, the FT's global health editor and two researchers in this area - Sophie Barry-Richards a Research Midwife at Swansea University and Fortunate Machingura, a Lecturer at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (UK).

Research links heat exposure during pregnancy to increased risks of preterm birth, stillbirth, congenital anomalies and other obstetric complications - highlighting an emerging public health challenge in both the UK and globally.

A new report from the Wellcome Trust makes the case for system-wide reform to better protect pregnant women from rising temperatures and sets out recommendations to help ensure UK maternity care is resilient for the future.

You can read the report here: Pregnancy in a warming world | Reports | Wellcome