WHO launches first global framework to track heat risks for pregnant women and children

On 21 October 2026, the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Meteorological Organization, UNICEF and the United Nations Population Fund launched the first-ever set of priority indicators to track the health impacts of extreme heat on pregnant women, newborns and children. According to WHO, this new framework is designed to strengthen preparedness, improve monitoring and accelerate responses to protect populations most vulnerable to climate-related health risks.

Growing evidence of harm from heat

Studies continue to provide evidence that exposure to extreme heat can harm health from pregnancy to childhood. According to the source, extreme heat is linked to a 26% increase in the odds of preterm birth.

Newborns are also increasingly exposed. Babies under one year of age experienced 389% more heatwave days in 2024 compared with the 1986 to 2005 baseline period. Globally, an estimated 1.5 billion children are exposed to heatwaves that are becoming more frequent, longer or more severe.

Bruce Gordon, Director a.i. of WHO's Department of Environment, Climate Change, One Health and Migration, said: "As our world continues to heat up, it creates new risks for health, and older people, pregnant women, newborns and children are among those least able to escape them."

What countries should monitor

The new report recommends that countries track specific health outcomes during periods of extreme heat. These include:

• Preterm births
• Stillbirths
• Low birthweight
• High blood pressure during pregnancy (pregnancy hypertension)
• Child deaths
• Visits to health facilities

Monitoring school attendance can also help reveal how heat disrupts children's lives. Dr Pascale Allotey, Director of WHO's Department of Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing, noted that what health systems do not count, they cannot respond to. By combining routine health data with heat-exposure data such as air temperature, authorities can identify unusual changes, investigate further and act accordingly.

Turning data into protection

This information can help health authorities prepare facilities for increased demand, strengthen warnings to pregnant women and families, identify communities at greatest risk and improve heat-health planning. WHO urges all countries to develop and implement context-specific heat-health action plans that integrate the needs of these vulnerable groups, strengthen early warning systems and trigger timely action when heat risks emerge.