Nearly all midwives and doctors say extreme heat is harming pregnant women and newborns, UN climate chief warns

From the Newshound archive · first published 5 October 2026 · last updated 6 October 2026.

UN climate chief Simon Stiell told ministers gathered in Fiji that extreme heat has made pregnancy and childbirth "a new faultline in the global climate crisis." A Wellcome Trust survey of 1,001 maternal health professionals across five countries found that 98 per cent had personally cared for a pregnant patient whose health they attributed to harm from extreme heat. Pregnant women exposed to heatwaves are 25 per cent more likely to suffer complications, and preterm birth risk rises roughly 5 per cent for every 1°C increase in temperature.

73 per cent of healthcare professionals — three in four — report that heat-related complications in pregnant women have grown more frequent over the past five years.

Julia Gillard, Wellcome chair and former Australian prime minister, warned that healthcare workers lack the tools and training to cope with the crisis.

Stiell said the most at-risk women are those who labour outside, live in poorly constructed housing, or give birth at facilities with no guaranteed electricity or temperature control — and that 'staying cool is simply not an option when there is no cool place to go.'