By PPH Foundation
When heavy rains cut off roads in northern Kenya, pregnant women can find themselves stranded miles away from the nearest health facility. During prolonged droughts, families may be forced to migrate in search of water and pasture, disrupting access to antenatal care and skilled birth services. In flood-prone regions, health facilities can become inaccessible, supply chains interrupted, and emergency referrals delayed. While climate change is often discussed in terms of environmental and economic consequences, its impact on maternal health is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
Across Africa and other vulnerable regions, environmental disruptions are placing new pressures on already strained health systems. For pregnant women, these disruptions can mean delayed access to care, increased exposure to disease, food insecurity, and heightened risks during childbirth. For women experiencing postpartum haemorrhage, one of the leading causes of maternal death worldwide, delays caused by environmental emergencies can be particularly dangerous.
Research published in The Lancet Planetary Health in 2023 found that climate-related events such as floods, droughts, heatwaves, and storms can negatively affect maternal and newborn health by disrupting healthcare access and increasing pregnancy-related risks (Wang et al., 2023). The impacts are often felt most severely in rural and underserved communities where health infrastructure is already fragile.
Flooding can be especially devastating. Roads become impassable, ambulances are unable to reach patients, and referral systems break down. Women in labour may be forced to travel longer distances or deliver without skilled assistance. A study published in Environmental Research in 2024 found that extreme weather events were associated with interruptions in maternal healthcare utilization, including reduced facility-based deliveries and delayed emergency care (Li et al., 2024).
The consequences extend beyond transportation. Environmental disasters can disrupt the supply of essential medicines, blood products, and medical equipment. For facilities managing postpartum haemorrhage, shortages of uterotonics, intravenous fluids, blood supplies, and surgical consumables can undermine lifesaving interventions.
Drought presents a different but equally serious challenge. Prolonged food insecurity can increase rates of maternal malnutrition and anaemia, conditions that significantly increase vulnerability to complications during childbirth. Women who begin labour with low haemoglobin levels have less physiological reserve to withstand excessive bleeding. Research published in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth has consistently linked maternal anaemia with increased risks of adverse maternal outcomes, including severe postpartum haemorrhage and maternal mortality (Young et al., 2019).
Climate change is also contributing to the spread and persistence of infectious diseases that can affect pregnancy outcomes. Malaria, which remains a major concern in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, contributes to maternal anaemia and increases the likelihood of complications during childbirth. Rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns may alter disease transmission patterns, creating additional challenges for maternal health programmes.
Beyond the direct health effects, environmental disruptions can place immense strain on healthcare workers. Facilities affected by floods, droughts, and other emergencies often face increased patient loads while operating with limited staff, damaged infrastructure, and constrained resources. Maintaining quality maternity care under such circumstances requires extraordinary resilience.
According to Prof Julius Ogengo, Co-Lead of the End PPH Initiative, climate resilience must increasingly be viewed as a maternal health priority.
"Climate-related emergencies are no longer isolated environmental events; they are health emergencies as well. When floods destroy roads, when droughts worsen maternal nutrition, or when health facilities struggle to maintain essential supplies, pregnant women are among those most affected. Strengthening maternal health systems must therefore include strengthening our capacity to anticipate, prepare for, and respond to environmental disruptions."
Recognizing these challenges, health experts are increasingly advocating for climate-resilient healthcare systems. This includes strengthening emergency referral networks, improving supply chain preparedness, investing in resilient health infrastructure, expanding community-based maternal services, and ensuring continuity plans for essential maternity care during disasters.
The World Health Organization has emphasized that climate-resilient health systems are critical to achieving maternal and newborn health goals in the coming decades. Adaptation measures such as early warning systems, emergency preparedness planning, and climate-informed health policies can help protect vulnerable populations from the health consequences of environmental change.
The connection between climate change and maternal health may not always be immediately visible. Yet every flooded road, disrupted supply chain, or prolonged drought can create barriers that separate women from lifesaving care. For mothers at risk of postpartum haemorrhage and other obstetric emergencies, these barriers can have devastating consequences.
As countries work to reduce maternal mortality, addressing environmental resilience is becoming an essential part of the solution. Protecting mothers will increasingly require not only stronger health systems, but also health systems capable of withstanding the environmental challenges of a changing world.
Sources
- Wang Y, Gloria A, et al. Climate Change, Extreme Weather Events, and Maternal and Newborn Health: A Systematic Review. The Lancet Planetary Health. 2023.
- Li X, Zhang H, et al. Extreme Weather Events and Maternal Healthcare Utilization: Evidence from Climate-Vulnerable Settings. Environmental Research. 2024.
- Young MF, Oaks BM, Tandon S, Martorell R, Dewey KG, Wendt AS. Maternal Anaemia and Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth. 2019;19:111.
- World Health Organization. Operational Framework for Building Climate-Resilient Health Systems. Geneva: WHO.
- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Climate Change 2023: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Geneva: IPCC.
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