Marudo Catherine P, Mohan Vikasni, Paidas Michael J, Toledo Paloma, Fu Eugene S, Santos Hudson P, Shepherd J Marshall, McHugh Erin G, Fletcher Michelle M, Shultz James M
Medical Student, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL.
Professor and Chair, Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL.
Obstet Gynecol Surv. 2025 Mar;80(3):174-185. doi: 10.1097/OGX.0000000000001361.
In the current era of climate change, extreme heat exposure poses escalating threats to maternal-fetal health. Despite the expansive scale of extreme heat exposure worldwide, dramatized by the record-breaking global ocean and atmospheric temperatures throughout 2023 and into 2024, the extent of the threat posed by heat is underestimated and underappreciated. Unlike the physical destruction wrought by climate-driven events like hurricanes and wildfires, heat exposure does not cause severe damage to the built environment. Yet, in most years, heat has been the deadliest hazard in the United States.
This expert review aims to illuminate how climate-related heat affects maternal-fetal health and exacerbates health inequities. It will also discuss current knowledge gaps and underscore the crucial role that obstetric providers play in safeguarding pregnant persons from exposure to hazardous heat and increasing patient awareness of climate-related heat.
Evidence for this review was primarily acquired through a comprehensive search of PubMed-indexed articles using MeSH terms and text words to search for concepts related to "climate change," "heat," "obstetrics," "pregnancy," "heat stress disorders," and their synonyms.
Extreme heat exposure threatens the health and well-being of pregnant persons and elevates the likelihood of poor birth outcomes like preterm birth, fetal demise, and stillbirth, among other pregnancy complications. Extreme heat exposure also increases the risk of dehydration, heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and gestational hypertension for pregnant persons.
Ultimately, obstetric professionals are essential to improving the care of pregnant persons at increased risk from salient climate-related heat exposure.
在当前气候变化的时代，极端高温暴露对母婴健康构成了日益严重的威胁。尽管全球范围内极端高温暴露的规模巨大，2023年直至2024年破纪录的全球海洋和大气温度就凸显了这一点，但高温所构成威胁的程度却被低估和忽视了。与飓风和野火等气候驱动事件造成的物理破坏不同，高温暴露不会对建筑环境造成严重损害。然而，在大多数年份里，高温一直是美国最致命的危害。
本专家综述旨在阐明与气候相关的高温如何影响母婴健康并加剧健康不平等。它还将讨论当前的知识空白，并强调产科医护人员在保护孕妇免受有害高温影响以及提高患者对与气候相关高温的认识方面所发挥的关键作用。
本综述的证据主要通过使用医学主题词（MeSH）和文本词对PubMed索引文章进行全面检索来获取，以搜索与“气候变化”“高温”“产科”“妊娠”“热应激障碍”及其同义词相关的概念。
极端高温暴露威胁着孕妇的健康和福祉，并增加了早产、胎儿死亡和死产等不良分娩结局以及其他妊娠并发症的可能性。极端高温暴露还会增加孕妇脱水、中暑衰竭、中暑和妊娠期高血压的风险。
最终，产科专业人员对于改善那些因与气候相关的显著高温暴露而面临更高风险的孕妇的护理至关重要。
