Heat and pregnancy: guidance for healthcare professionals and community health workers

This is guidance document published by India's Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (in partnership with UNFPA and the National Health Mission) aimed at healthcare professionals and community health workers. It covers the risks that extreme heat poses specifically to pregnant women, fetuses, and newborns, and provides clinical checklists, emergency referral protocols, facility preparedness guidance, and patient counselling frameworks — including the "B.E.A.T. the Heat" mnemonic (Be hydrated, Escape the heat, Adjust activities, Take help early).

Work-related heat exposure at ≥30°C with ≥35% humidity triples the risk of first-trimester miscarriage and doubles the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes overall. Heat exposure in the first 20 weeks is linked to gestational hypertension, pre-eclampsia, and gestational diabetes, while exposure at any trimester raises the risk of preterm birth, stillbirth, low birth weight, and congenital anomalies. Mental health impacts — anxiety, sleep disturbance, and perinatal depression — are also documented. The document also flags that many common medications (antihypertensives, antipsychotics, diuretics, SSRIs, antihistamines) further compromise thermoregulation during heat exposure.