The CHAMNHA team held an online inter-disciplinary expert workshop on June 14th, to address an important gap in the research evidence for heat effects on maternal health. There is very little observational or experimental evidence for the effects of heat on women through all stages of the pregnancy and during childbirth. Pregnant women cannot be exposed to very high temperatures for research. We reviewed the current understanding of the physiological mechanisms involved in adverse outcomes because of high ambient temperatures increasingly affecting pregnant women, foetus and neonates.

With climate change and more extreme weather and heat waves, it is important to reach a consensus on the best available information in order to be able to appropriately adapt and protect pregnant women and foetus.

The workshop brought together experts in thermal physiology, animal physiology, exercise physiology, maternal and environmental epidemiology, neonatology and obstetrics, from Europe and Africa. Led by the results of a previous literature review conducted by the CHAMNHA team, the working group reviewed evidence from animal models and observational studies on thermoregulation during pregnancy, the effect of heat exposure in reducing placental blood flow, and current hypotheses on how heat exposure may trigger adverse birth outcomes, including low birth weight and preterm birth. The workshop aimed to build consensus. As a result of the workshop, the working group has written a full consensus draft and have submitted a paper for publication.