UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell has warned that extreme heat is emerging as a potentially fatal threat to pregnant women, newborns, and maternal healthcare systems as climate change intensifies. Speaking at the Birthright event in Suva, Fiji, Stiell stated that rising temperatures are increasingly linked to pregnancy complications, premature birth, stillbirth, and low birth weight. He emphasized that the picture is clear and very disturbing, with pregnancy and birth becoming a new faultline in the global climate crisis.
A new survey commissioned by Wellcome of maternal health professionals across five countries on five continents highlighted growing concern over the impact of extreme heat on maternal, fetal, and newborn health. The survey found that 73% of healthcare professionals reported that heat-linked cases or complications had increased over the past five years. Additionally, 81% of respondents were either concerned or very concerned that extreme heat would increasingly put maternal, fetal, and newborn health at risk without greater action.
The survey also revealed that nearly all respondents, 98%, had cared for a pregnant woman whose health they considered to have been affected by extreme heat, while 99% reported caring for a baby affected by extreme heat. Stiell emphasized that these figures represent more than statistics, pointing to the human consequences of extreme heat on expectant mothers, newborns, families, and healthcare workers. He noted that someone working outdoors, living in unregulated housing, traveling far to a clinic, or relying on facilities without water, power, or cooling, cannot be protected by advice alone.
Stiell warned that climate change could deepen existing inequalities in access to safe pregnancy and childbirth, particularly for women living in vulnerable communities and countries that had contributed relatively little to global warming. He stressed that a safe birth is already too often shaped by geography, income, and access to care, and that without action, extreme heat will widen that injustice. Stiell called for maternal and newborn health to be integrated into climate adaptation, heat, and health planning.
The UN official identified three priorities: integrating pregnancy and newborn care into climate adaptation and heat-health plans; converting evidence into practical protection; and improving data collection and analysis to identify growing risks and measure which interventions work. He emphasized that issues excluded from policy plans are often left without adequate funding, monitoring, or protection. Stiell also called for stronger data to show where climate-related maternal and newborn health risks are increasing, which communities are most exposed, and where finance and technology are needed.
Stiell welcomed the Birthright Campaign by Wellcome and work by the World Health Organisation on maternal health and climate change, saying both could help address gaps in protection. He also pointed to the Belém Gender Action Plan and Belém Adaptation Indicators as mechanisms that could strengthen gender-responsive climate action, data collection, finance, participation, and tracking of progress toward climate-resilient health services. The UN climate change executive secretary urged governments and other stakeholders to act before climate impacts become entrenched in maternity wards and communities.
The UN chief emphasized that the issue should be treated as a matter of basic human protection rather than an unavoidable consequence of climate change. He urged nations and the wider financial system to work toward mobilizing $1.3 trillion annually for developing countries to strengthen systemic resilience and accelerate the transition to clean, affordable, and secure energy on which effective health systems depend. Stiell concluded that this work is urgent, deeply human, and that we all share the responsibility to drive it forward together.
Key points
- The UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell warns that extreme heat is a potentially fatal threat to pregnant women, newborns, and maternal healthcare systems.
- A new survey found that 73% of healthcare professionals reported that heat-linked cases or complications had increased over the past five years.
- Stiell called for maternal and newborn health to be integrated into climate adaptation, heat, and health planning to address the growing risks.
