High temperatures can wreak havoc on your health if you're not careful—and some could be in more danger than others, says a new report.
Extreme Heat Could Pose a Greater Risk to One Group, Research Says
Published on Jun. 17, 2025
Summer is all about soaking up the sun (three cheers for vitamin D!) and lazy beach days, but these casual outdoor excursions can take a serious turn if proper precautions aren’t taken. Heat-related illnesses “accounted for a 20% larger share of emergency department visits [in 2023] than they did in the five previous seasons,” according to a CNN report.
To protect yourself, you’ll want to make sure to slather on that sunscreen and take breaks from being in direct sunlight. But people who are pregnant should also be extra careful, says a newly released report.
According to health experts, pregnant people are more likely to experience heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and dehydration, among other heat-related issues. And, in higher temperatures, pregnancy can cause a person’s core body temperature to rise, which could lead to birth defects and other complications in some situations.
Last month, Climate Central, a nonprofit group dedicated to reporting the effects of climate change, released a report detailing its analysis of daily temperatures, focusing on 247 countries and territories and 940 cities around the world. The goal was to learn how many pregnancy heat-risk days were experienced globally.
The report defined pregnancy heat-risk days as days when the highest temperatures at a location were “warmer than 95% of temperatures” previously recorded there. These days were “associated with an increased risk of preterm birth.”
In total, Climate Central reviewed five years of data, collected between 2020 and 2024, and found:
- All countries reviewed had at least five more pregnancy heat-risk days each year.
- Almost one-third of countries (78 of 247) had at least one more month’s worth of pregnancy heat-risk days on average every year.
- When compared to “a world without climate change,” 222 of the 247 countries examined had at least double the amount of annual pregnancy heat-risk days.
- Developing areas with limited healthcare access appeared to experience greater increases in pregnancy heat-risk days.
The U.S. saw a 48% increase (12 days) in average annual pregnancy heat-risk days during that time frame, Climate Central reported.
Additionally, every state—and Washington, D.C.—had at least one more week’s worth of pregnancy heat-risk days as the result of climate change, with cities in the Southwest experiencing the greatest changes.
“Even a single day of extreme heat can raise the risk of serious pregnancy complications,” warned Kristina Dahl, vice president of science for Climate Central, as reported by ABC News.
She added, “Climate change is increasing extreme heat and stacking the odds against healthy pregnancies worldwide, especially in places where care is already hard to access.”
So, what can pregnant women do to protect themselves against the heat?
According to the Mayo Clinic, pregnant people in hot environments should:
- Wear loose, breathable clothes.
- Stay in shaded areas when outside.
- Drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration.
- Be mindful of symptoms of overheating, which include dizziness, extreme thirst, and muscle cramps, and seek medical attention when necessary.
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