article · BMJ Global Health
Rising temperatures in the Sahel present severe threats to women who often lack protection from high temperatures indoors and outdoors. An ethnographic study in two regions of Burkina Faso examined how extreme heat affects pregnant women, mothers, and newborns. Findings indicate that extreme temperatures disrupt women's well-being, physical and mental health, and day-to-day functionality. Heat compromises a woman's capacity to care for herself and her infant, impairs breastfeeding, and interferes with economic activities and family relationships. Specific cultural customs, including the taboo against taking an infant outdoors before forty days, compound these vulnerabilities. Furthermore, most women do not recognise heat stress symptoms or understand associated health hazards. Consequently, targeted public health messaging and policy programmes are required to equip healthcare workers to communicate heat risk management effectively.
Climate change is driving more extreme temperatures across the Sahel, where many women lack structural protection from heat. Understanding how extreme heat harms maternal health, infant care, and household livelihoods allows public health authorities to design targeted interventions. Addressing awareness gaps among women and healthcare workers is critical to protecting maternal and infant well-being as regional temperatures continue to rise.
The abstract does not indicate a commercialisation pathway, as it focuses on public health communication and policy rather than market products. However, the findings could inform early-stage development of public health education programmes, healthcare worker training curricula, and heat-warning communication services delivered by health authorities and development organisations. Real-world application currently sits at the policy and guidance stage rather than commercial deployment.
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Climate change is an increasing threat to the health of populations in Africa, with a shift in seasonal temperatures towards more extreme heat exposures. In Burkina Faso, like other countries in the Sahel, many women have little protection against exposure to high temperatures, either outside or inside the home or place of work. This paper investigates how women perceive the impacts of heat on their physical and mental health, in addition to their social relationships and economic activities. Qualitative methods (in-depth interviews and focus group discussions) were conducted with women, community representatives and healthcare professionals in two regions in Burkina Faso. A thematic analysis was used to explore the realities of participants' experiences and contextual perspectives in relation to heat. Our research shows extreme temperatures have a multifaceted impact on pregnant women, mothers and newborns. Extreme heat affects women's functionality and well-being. Heat undermines a woman's ability to care for themselves and their child and interferes negatively with breast feeding. Heat negatively affects their ability to work and to maintain harmonious relationships with their partners and families. Cultural practices such as a taboo on taking the baby outside before the 40th day may exacerbate some of the negative consequences of heat. Most women do not recognise heat stress symptoms and lack awareness of heat risks to health. There is a need to develop public health messages to reduce the impacts of heat on health in Burkina Faso. Programmes and policies are needed to strengthen the ability of health professionals to communicate with women about best practices in heat risk management.
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DOI: 10.1136/bmjgh-2023-014230
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