Heat hits mums and babies hard, and the WHO wants countries to start counting the harm
The first-ever global indicators for tracking how extreme heat affects pregnancy, newborns and children have been launched, after babies under one faced 389% more heatwave days in 2024 than in 1986–2005.
Pregnant women, newborns and children are among the people most vulnerable to extreme heat, and the World Health Organization says health systems need to start measuring how it affects them.
On 21 October, the WHO, the World Meteorological Organization, UNICEF and the United Nations Population Fund launched the first-ever set of priority indicators to help countries track the health impacts of heat on pregnant women, newborns and children.
What the evidence shows
According to the WHO, exposure to extreme heat is linked to a 26% increase in the odds of preterm birth. Babies under one year old experienced 389% more heatwave days in 2024 than in the 1986 to 2005 baseline period, and an estimated 1.5 billion children worldwide are exposed to heatwaves that are becoming more frequent, longer or more severe.
“Heat is already affecting our most vulnerable populations, including pregnant women, newborns and children. But what health systems do not count, they cannot respond to,” said Dr Pascale Allotey, Director of the WHO’s Department of Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing.
What countries are being asked to track
The indicators ask countries to monitor preterm births, stillbirths, low birthweight, pregnancy hypertension, child deaths and health-facility visits during extreme heat. The WHO says monitoring school attendance can also help reveal how heat is disrupting children’s lives.
What the WHO wants
The WHO is urging all countries to develop and implement context-specific heat-health action plans that integrate the needs of pregnant women, newborns and children, strengthen early warning systems and trigger timely action when heat risks emerge.
Source: World Health Organization, New global framework launched to track increasing health risks of extreme heat for pregnant women, newborns and children, news release, 21 October 2026. Reported from the release only. Illustrations by The Dosage.