During pregnancy, extreme heat comes with extra risks – CTV

October 23, 2025

Doctors have long known that heat puts a strain on the heart, kidneys and other organs. Those risks are exacerbated for pregnant people, as the body’s processes for staying cool are altered.

It’s a problem that climate change, caused by the burning of fuels like gasoline and coal, is worsening. Intensifying extreme heat events, high temperatures well into the night and shattering weather records means more exposure for pregnant people, particularly in developing countries.

Here’s what to know about the science of pregnancy and extreme heat:

Pregnancy makes heat harder to handle
Pregnancy changes the body in myriad ways, which can make it more difficult and uncomfortable to dissipate heat.

“An obvious thing is, pregnant people have a belly bump, depending how far along they are, and that’s a change in their surface to volume ratio,” said Anna Bershteyn, an associate professor at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine and director of Project HEATWAVE, an initiative aimed at improving research on preventing extreme heat deaths. Heat leaves your body through your skin, so when the belly gets larger, the heat has farther to travel to escape.

Read more: https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/article/during-pregnancy-extreme-heat-comes-with-extra-risks/