Evidence brief · November 2026

Heat and the health of mothers, children and minds

What the evidence shows about extreme heat and pregnancy, newborns and young children, mental health, and violence against women in South and Southeast Asia: what is known, what is inferred, what is still uncertain, and five questions that research could answer.

Common Shade · beattheheat.asia · Free to use under CC BY 4.0 ·

In brief

Heat in pregnancy is linked to more preterm births and stillbirths¹, and the largest risks fall on poorer women. Women doing heavy work in the heat may carry the most risk².
Young children face more heatwave days than in the past³, and warmer weather is linked to more diarrhoea⁴, a leading cause of death in young children.
Heat is linked to distress, worse outcomes for people living with mental illness⁵, and, in India, to more suicides in the growing season⁶.
Across India, Nepal and Pakistan, hotter years are linked to more violence against women by their partners⁷.
Most of the strongest evidence comes from outside the region, or from one place within it. What protects people is the least studied part.

Pregnancy and birth

Known

Across 70 studies in 27 countries, the odds of a preterm birth rose about 5% for each 1 °C rise in temperature, and about 16% during heatwaves; stillbirths rose about 5% for each 1 °C¹.
The associations were largest among women in lower socioeconomic groups and at the youngest and oldest ages¹.
In Tamil Nadu, among 800 pregnant women doing moderate to heavy physical work, those with high workplace heat had about twice the risk of miscarriage².
A call to action by three UN agencies names heat among the hazards linked to gestational diabetes, hypertensive disorders, preterm birth, low birth weight and stillbirth, and to stress and anxiety in pregnancy⁸.

Inferred

Rest, lighter work and cooler places during pregnancy could reduce these risks; this follows from the evidence, but has not been tested in the region.
Women who keep working outdoors or fetching water while pregnant are likely to carry the most risk.

Uncertain

Only seven of the 27 countries in the main review were low- or middle-income¹; effect sizes in South and Southeast Asia may differ.
The Tamil Nadu finding comes from one cohort, and its range is wide².
A preprint, not yet peer reviewed, estimates that the extreme-heat days a pregnancy passes through in Bangladesh rose from about 4 for births in 2018 to about 30 for births in 2024⁹.

Newborns and young children

Known

In 2014–2023, each infant in India faced an average of 7.7 heatwave days a year, 47% more than in the 1990s³.
Across 26 studies, each 1 °C rise in temperature was linked to about 7% more diarrhoea, a leading cause of death in young children⁴.

Inferred

Repeated diarrhoea in hot months is likely to add to undernutrition, and to the load on clinics.
Safe water, handwashing and oral rehydration in place before the hot months could offset part of the risk.

Uncertain

The diarrhoea review found signs of publication bias and an uneven spread of studies across regions⁴.
We found no measurements of how hot labour wards and newborn units get during heatwaves in the region.

Mental health and suicide

Known

Heat is linked to more anxiety, distress and suicide, and to worse outcomes for people living with mental illness⁵.
Heat can worsen underlying illness, including mental health conditions¹⁰.
In India, a 1 °C rise in a day’s temperature above 20 °C in the growing season was linked to about 70 more suicides, as the same heat cut crop yields; warming over 30 years is estimated to account for 59,300 suicides⁶.
In many countries, mental health services are far from meeting the need¹¹.

Inferred

Lost farm income is the likely route between heat and suicide in rural India; support after crop losses could weaken the link.

Uncertain

The India suicide findings have been debated.
Little is known about heat and self-harm in cities, or in other countries of the region.

Violence against women

Known

Across 194,871 women in India, Nepal and Pakistan, each 1 °C rise in yearly temperature was linked to about 4.5% more intimate partner violence, with physical and sexual violence rising most⁷.
Under very high emissions, it could rise about 21% by the 2090s, against about 6% if warming is held lowest⁷.

Inferred

Lost income, stress and crowded, hot homes may all play a part.
Longer trips to fetch water in the heat may expose women and girls to harassment.

Uncertain

The study is cross-sectional and uses yearly temperatures: it shows an association, not its causes⁷.
Whether income support, cooler homes or women’s groups weaken the link has not been studied.

Women at work

Known

Among 312 women workers in India, heat exceeded safe limits for 71%; of those with poor or no toilets, 87% reported genitourinary problems, and about 1 in 10 showed heat strain and moderate dehydration¹².

Inferred

Safe toilets, water and rest at hot workplaces are likely to protect women’s health, including in pregnancy.

Uncertain

The study covers three sectors in one country.

What could help

Possibilities the evidence points to. Each is described on the map, with who could act.

Heat-safe pregnancy and newborn care Heat advice and checks in antenatal care, lighter work and rest for pregnant workers, cool labour wards and newborn units, and visits to new mothers in a heatwave.
Safe water and rehydration for young children Safe drinking water, handwashing and oral rehydration salts in place before the hot months, carried to families by clinics and community health workers.
Mental health in heat plans Heat plans that include mental health: support that reaches farm households after crop losses, services that stay open through heatwaves, and warnings that reach people in mental health care.
Violence prevention in heat planning Helplines, shelters and women’s groups included in heat plans and kept open in heatwaves, income support in hot seasons, and health workers trained to recognise violence on their visits.
Heat-ready health services Cooling, backup power, surge plans and trained frontline workers keep clinics working through heatwaves.
Cooling centres and check-ins Public cooling spaces, water points and check-ins on older people living alone save lives in every heatwave.

Five questions research could answer

From the learning agenda on the Evidence map. What could answer each one, and at what scale, are our suggestions.

Which protections lower heat risks in pregnancy in South and Southeast Asia: rest and lighter work, cooler homes, antenatal advice, or cash that lets women stop work?
What we have
A review of 70 studies in 27 countries, only seven of them low- or middle-income, and one cohort of 800 working women in Tamil Nadu; none tests what reduces the risk.
What could answer it
Add heat exposure and simple protections to antenatal records in a few districts, and compare outcomes across hot seasons.
Scale
Two or three districts, two to three years
How hot do labour wards and newborn units get in a heatwave, and what keeps them safe when the power fails?
What we have
A WHO, UNICEF and UNFPA call to action that names heat among the risks to mothers and newborns, and no measurements from facilities in the region that we have found.
What could answer it
Log indoor temperatures and power cuts in a sample of facilities through one hot season, alongside any cooling and back-up power they have.
Scale
Twenty to thirty facilities, one season
How much does heat add to diarrhoea and undernutrition in young children in the region, and how much do safe water and oral rehydration offset it?
What we have
A review of 26 studies finding about 7% more diarrhoea per 1 °C, uneven across regions and with signs of publication bias.
What could answer it
Combine clinic records of child diarrhoea with temperature and water-supply data in a few towns over several seasons.
Scale
Three to five towns, three seasons
Beyond farm households in India, how does heat affect self-harm and suicide across South and Southeast Asia, and does income support in bad seasons reduce it?
What we have
One national study of India over 47 years linking heat in the growing season to suicides through crop losses; little from cities or other countries.
What could answer it
Link daily temperatures with suicide and self-harm records where they exist, and study districts where crop insurance or cash reached households in bad years.
Scale
Two or three countries, existing records
Why is heat linked to more intimate partner violence in South Asia, and do income support, cooler homes or women’s groups weaken the link?
What we have
A cross-sectional study of 194,871 women in India, Nepal and Pakistan, using yearly temperatures; it shows an association, not the reasons for it.
What could answer it
Add heat and household strain questions to existing violence surveys, and compare places with and without seasonal income support.
Scale
Existing surveys, with a qualitative study in a few districts

How this brief was made

Every figure is one the Common Shade map already cites. Each source was opened and archived, and the terms we rely on were found in its text; for journal articles, in the abstract. Known means measured, official or peer-reviewed; inferred means a reasonable step from the evidence, or a projection; uncertain means a gap, a preprint, or a finding that has been debated. If something here is wrong, or a better source exists, we would be grateful to hear it.

How to cite

Common Shade. Heat and the health of mothers, children and minds: what the evidence shows in South and Southeast Asia. Evidence brief, November 2026. beattheheat.asia/briefs/heat-mothers-children-minds/. CC BY 4.0.

In brief

Pregnancy and birth

Newborns and young children

Mental health and suicide

Violence against women

Women at work

What could help

Five questions research could answer

How this brief was made

How to cite

Sources