Heatwaves linked to premature births and complications, UN warns ahead of climate summit
Pregnant women and newborns face rising risks from extreme heat, the United Nations warned this week, as new data shows doctors across five countries reporting a surge in complications linked to rising temperatures. Speaking at a pre-summit in Fiji, the UN's top climate official urged governments to put maternal and neonatal health at the centre of national adaptation plans.
Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, told a conference organised by the Wellcome foundation that each 1°C rise in temperature contributes to a 5% increase in premature births. He cited survey data from 1,000 maternal health professionals across Australia, Brazil, India, the United Kingdom and Zimbabwe.
Doctors report surge in heat-related cases
The survey, commissioned by the British research foundation Wellcome and released in October 2026, found that 73% of health professionals reported an increase in heat-related cases or complications among pregnant women over the past five years. Nearly all consulted — 98% had treated a pregnant woman whose health they considered affected by extreme heat, while 99% said the same for a newborn.
In Brazil specifically, 89% of maternal health professionals expressed concern about the impact of high temperatures on newborns, and 77% believe risks will increase over the next five years.
The data suggests other medical risks rise with the mercury: each degree of warming is associated with a 7% increase in gestational diabetes cases. Research reviews link heatwaves to a 16% to 26% increase in the probability of premature birth, as well as higher rates of stillbirth, low birth weight and hypertensive complications such as pre-eclampsia.
Inequality shapes who bears the burden
Stiell warned that the risks are not evenly distributed. Families living in precarious housing, working outdoors, travelling long distances to reach a clinic, or relying on health centres without water, electricity or refrigeration have fewer opportunities to protect themselves.
"A healthy start to a newborn's life should never depend on a family's ability to escape the heat," Stiell said.
He called for maternal and neonatal health to be explicitly included in national climate adaptation plans and heatwave strategies, noting that "staying cool" is not an option when there is nowhere cool to go.
Brazil launches R$9.8B adaptation plan
For readers in Portugal, where summer heatwaves have become more frequent and intense, the warnings carry local relevance. But the data points to an acute crisis in Brazil, where the Ministry of Health launched AdaptaSUS in July 2026 — a national plan investing R$9.8 billion until 2035 to strengthen the Sistema Único de Saúde against climate impacts.
The programme includes 27 targets and 93 actions: strengthening climate-related health surveillance, expanding early warning systems for extreme events, adapting health unit infrastructure, and protecting vulnerable populations including mothers and infants.
In the Northeast region, more than 968 Basic Health Units are being delivered or built with resilience features: solar power, generators and water reserves capable of meeting needs for up to 72 hours during outages. Health centres are adopting contingency plans for the cold chain — critical for preserving vaccines and medicines — including relocating stock to units with backup power.
The National Congress is also debating Bill 4493/2026, which would mandate community cooling centres, public hydration points, and a national thermal vulnerability map.
Pacific nations seek €442M for resilience
The warnings came at the Pre-COP31 meeting in Fiji, running from Tuesday to Thursday, a precursor to the UN Climate Change Conference (COP31) scheduled for 9–20 November in Antalya, Turkey. Fiji, Tuvalu and Australia are hosting the event to highlight the priorities of small Pacific island states, which face existential threats from sea level rise and extreme weather.Fiji's Prime Minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, called for climate finance to reach communities in need "now" as "an act of justice, not charity." The region is seeking commitments of approximately US$500 million (around €442 million) to strengthen the resilience of Pacific nations. The hosts also reaffirmed the goal of limiting warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by century's end.
What changes for families
The core message for women of childbearing age: exposure to extreme heat during pregnancy — particularly in the first and third trimesters — carries measurable medical risks. For health systems, the UN is calling for protocols that treat maternal health as a climate adaptation priority. Hospitals and clinics need backup power, reliable water and cooling capacity, not just for comfort but to keep vaccines, insulin and emergency obstetric care functional during heatwaves and power cuts.
