Researchers at The University of Western Australia have been awarded $3.34 million to explore the impact of heatwaves on health during pregnancy.
"Through addressing these unknowns, we can enable prevention of adverse effects of heat in pregnancy at individual, clinical and public health levels."
Associate Professor Caitlin Wyrwoll, UWA School of Human Sciences
The Wellcome Trust announced global funding to advance understanding of the biological vulnerability of pregnant women and babies to extreme heat.
A team of discovery scientists, sociologists, mathematical modellers, epidemiologists and clinicians will examine a broad range of data from lived experience, environmental factors and biological mechanisms.
Lead investigator Associate Professor Caitlin Wyrwoll, from UWA's School of Human Sciences, said as global temperatures continued to rise, the intensity and frequency of heatwaves increased around the world, making it more important to better understand how extreme weather events influenced body function.
"Pregnancy is the most physiologically dynamic process that the human body experiences and is a time of the life-course which is particularly vulnerable to heat exposure," Professor Wyrwoll said.
"While heatwaves are proposed to increase pregnancy complications, the underlying physiological changes, specific climate zone risk factors and who is most at risk remain vague."
The grant will fund the project, Extreme heat and pregnancy complications: harnessing the diverse Australian climate and population for global answers, over five years.
The research team includes investigators from The University of Western Australia, Telethon Kids Institute, Curtin University, Menzies School of Health Research, Australian National University, University of Sydney, University of Melbourne and Queensland University of Technology.
The study is also supported by the Healthy Environments And Lives (HEAL) NHMRC network.
Professor Wyrwoll said Australia was perfectly placed to conduct the study, thanks to its unique context of diverse climate zones, populations and comprehensive health data.
"We plan to leverage this environment to understand why heat exposure increases pregnancy complications but also understand who is most at risk," she said.
"Through addressing these unknowns, we can enable prevention of adverse effects of heat in pregnancy at individual, clinical and public health levels."
