ArticleWomen's health (London, England)
Maternal exposure to heat and its association with miscarriage in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: A population-based cohort study.
Article in Women's health (London, England). The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed.
- The Impact of Climate Change on Pregnant Women's Health: A Scoping Review of Reviews.Nursing reports (Pavia, Italy) · 2026Review
- "The heat really troubles us": community perspectives on a cool roof intervention, Umlazi, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.Frontiers in climate · 2026Article
- Artificial intelligence for predicting and preventing adverse pregnancy outcomes addressing bias and clinical translation.Frontiers in digital health · 2026Review
- Temperature-Related Health Impacts: A Scoping Review and Benchmarking Exercise to Inform a Heat Action Plan.Annals of global health · 2026Article
- Impact of climate change on spontaneous abortion: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in global women's health · 2026Review
- Climate Change and Reproductive Health.Endocrine reviews · 2025Review
- Ambient temperature in relation to ovarian reserve and early outcomes following ovarian stimulation and in vitro fertilization.Environmental research · 2025Article
- Assessing Sub-Saharan Africa's readiness to address the impact of climate change and health: A scoping review.PloS one · 2025Article
- Reproductive health at crossroads: progress and challenges since the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo.China population and development studies · 2025Article
- Gender sensitive approach in response to climate change: Why and how?Women's health (London, England)Article
- The impact of climate change on maternal and child health outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa: A five-year (2020-2024) scoping review.The journal of climate change and healthReview
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Abstract
backgroundWe sought to improve the current understanding of how climate change impacts women's reproductive health in sub-Saharan Africa.
objectivesWe investigated the relationship between maternal heat exposure and miscarriage (pregnancy ending before 20 weeks gestation) in a South African setting.
designPopulation-based cohort study.
methodsOur study involved data for pregnancies collected via a health and demographic surveillance system in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa between 2012 and 2016. Data from the South African Weather Service were used to compute maternal exposure to heat during the following time windows for each pregnancy: during the month preceding conception (T1) and during the week preceding the study outcome (either a miscarriage or no miscarriage, T2). Heat exposure was operationalized as a continuous variable and defined as the number of days that a mother was exposed to a mean daily temperature of > 26.6°C (A "hot day," equivalent to a mean daily temperature of > 80°F) during T1 or T2. Binary logistic regression was used to investigate the relationship between maternal heat exposure and miscarriage.
resultsA total of 105/3477 pregnancies included in our analysis ended in miscarriage (3.0%). Each additional hot day during T1 was associated with a 26% higher odds of miscarriage (odds ratio: 1.26; 95% confidence interval: 1.15-1.38). No significant associations were observed between maternal heat exposure during T2 and the odds of miscarriage (odds ratio: 0.94, 95% confidence interval: 0.73-1.20). The relationship between maternal heat exposure during T1 and the odds of miscarriage was J-shaped.
conclusionThere is a clear relationship between maternal heat exposure during the month preceding conception and miscarriage in our sub-Saharan African setting. Given the lack of feasible strategies to reduce pregnancy loss associated with prevailing high temperatures in sub-Saharan Africa, progressive climate change will likely exacerbate existing challenges for women's reproductive health in this region.
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