Climate change and its hidden burden on mothers, newborns and children in developing countries

Abstract

One of the biggest health issues of the twenty-first century is climate change, which has both short-term and long-term effects that disproportionately affect vulnerable groups, especially pregnant women, newborns, and children in developing nations with limited capacity for adaptation [1]. This fact transforms climate change from an environmental issue into a serious public health emergency with profound effects on the health of mothers, newborns, and children [2,3]. Pregnant women, newborns, and children are at increased risk of adverse health effects due to physiological, clinical, social, and behavioral factors, but they are under-represented in global climate adaptation and mitigation strategies [1–3]. Mothers, newborns, and children are at greater risk from both direct (heat stress, extreme weather events, rising sea levels, floods, droughts, windstorms, wildfires, air pollution) and indirect (climate change exacerbates food insecurity, the spread of infectious diseases, and strains on fragile health systems) risks [1]. Climate change is predicted to cause over 500,000 more stillbirths annually worldwide by 2050, with developing nations bearing the greatest share of this major threat [5]. Climate change is already responsible for 88% of the global disease burden in under five children, primarily through pneumonia, malnutrition, and heat-related illness (4). Growing temperatures, extreme weather, and food insecurity are shortening lifespans and lowering quality of life, which has disastrous effects on children, newborns, and pregnant and postpartum women. Approximately 160 million of the one billion children who are currently at "extremely high risk" from the effects of climate change reside in drought-prone areas, and half of them live in flood zones [1]. As a result, heat stress, air pollution, and extreme weather events like floods, displacement, and food security are just a few of the ways that climate change affects the lives of women, newborns, and children.