Health & Fit Warming temperatures put women at risk of giving birth early, study says

© Serghei Starus/Shutterstock Mothers hands holding little newborn baby feet, macro closeup, selective focus; Shutterstock ID 749472871; Job: -

Women are at risk of giving birth early due to warmer temperatures brought on by the climate crisis, a new study finds.

The study, published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change, found that on days when temperatures soar past 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32.2 degrees Celsius), birth rates increase 5%. Birth rates are also elevated on the following day, perhaps because labor and delivery continued into the next day, the study said. After temperatures drop, birth rates decrease.

Air pollution particles may reach fetuses in the womb, study finds

New evidence has been found that air pollution can breach a mother's placenta and potentially reach fetuses in the womb, raising the possibility of future health problems. © ED JONES/AFP/AFP/Getty Images A woman and baby wearing face masks walk in the Forbidden City during heavy pollution in Beijing on February 28, 2013. Beijing residents were urged to stay indoors as pollution levels soared before a sandstorm brought further misery to China's capital.

Refugee women who come to Canada have greater risk of giving birth prematurely than non-refugee immigrants, a Canadian study shows. Risk factors for preterm birth include infections, malnutrition and stress -- all very common among women living in refugee situations.

Women at risk of giving birth prematurely could be identified by looking at the bacteria living in their reproductive tract, study finds. Lead scientist Dr David MacIntyre, from Imperial College London, said : 'This study is one of the first to show that almost half of pregnant women may have an

A 5% increase may not sound like much, but the authors estimate that over a 20-year period, an average of 25,000 infants per year were born earlier in the United States as a result of warm temperatures. That equates to a loss of more than 150,000 gestational days annually in the United States from 1969 to 1988. Researchers think this is likely an undercount.

The average reduction in gestational length is about 6.1 days, the study found, but in some cases, babies were born up to two weeks early.

Previous studies have found that mothers face an increased risk of preeclampsia, hypertension and other health problems with higher temperatures. During a baby's last weeks in the womb, there's dramatic maturation in the brain and rapid physical growth. Studies have shown that babies born early have a higher risk of diseases such as asthma, higher risk of developmental delays and greater risk the child will need to be hospitalized early on in life.

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Women can prevent needing a c-section or having an early birth by maintaining a healthy weight, staying active and avoiding smoking. Children born by c-section are at risk of becoming obeseCredit: Getty - Contributor. It also means they are at greater risk of dying before their time because of other

A Wellington woman who gave birth in 2013, and asked not to be named, is undergoing counselling to deal with the psychological trauma she experienced during the birth of her first child. Running Can Reduce Your Risk of Early Death, Study Says . Marijuana Use Rising in Young Adults, Study Shows.

The study doesn't explain the connection between extreme heat and earlier births. Studies in animals have shown that heat stress can increase the amount of oxytocin a mother produces. In human mothers, levels of this neuropeptide increase when labor begins. Another theory is that extreme heat might cause earlier deliveries due to cardiovascular stress.

Other studies have noted the negative connections between warmer temperatures and births in both humans and in animals. This large study encompassed 56 million births. Instead of using gestational length records, which could be misreported, the authors looked at daily birth rates, which tend to be more accurate. They also factored in regional temperature differences, the study said.

With the climate crisis expected to bring more extremely hot days, early births could become a much bigger problem in the United States and around the world. This study looked at data from 1969 to 1988. There have been many more record-breaking hot days since then and more are expected in the future, if the world doesn't cut carbon emissions and prevent further warming.

According to climate projections, the new study says, there could be additional 250,000 gestational days lost every year by the end of the century.

Gallery: How Climate Change Affects Your Health Now and in the Coming Years (Provided by Best Life)

Netherlands: Nearly 400 people die from heatwave

Dutch temperatures reached 40.4 degrees Celsius on July 25, breaking the 1944 record

© C. Allain / 20 Minutes Illustration of a wheelchair here in the corridors from a hospital.

The record heat wave that struck Europe in July killed 400 people in the Netherlands , the Dutch statistics agency said on Friday.

Dutch temperatures reached 40.4 degrees Celsius on July 25 , breaking the record of 1944 and exceeding for the first time the 40 degrees since the first temperature recordings.

"The heat wave was short, but very intense"

In total, 2,964 people died in the week of July 22 to 27, reported the Central Bureau of Statistics Dutch, adding that "it represented almost 400 more people than in a normal week in summer ".

"The heatwave was short, but very intense, with temperatures that exceeded all records ever measured in the Netherlands," said the Bureau. Most of the additional deaths are seniors, with 1,687 people over 80 years old who died during the heat wave, 300 more than a normal summer week, the agency said.

The warmest temperatures ever recorded in some countries

Mortality rates were also higher in the eastern part of the Netherlands, where temperatures were warmer, than in other parts of the country where it was found. is relatively cooler.

Records accumulated in Europe during this brief, but scorching heatwave , with Great Britain, Belgium, Germany and the French capital living all their hottest days ever recorded. Lead temperatures have drawn public attention to the problems caused by global warming .

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