# Impact of prenatal exposure to climate stressors and severe maternal morbidity: a retrospective birth cohort study

> **NIH NIH R03** · NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY RALEIGH · 2024 · $76,692

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 The climate crisis, in combination with other social and environmental stressors, negatively influences
human health; its impact varies across age groups and life stages. Pregnancy is an understudied critical
window of susceptibility. Few studies have focused on the impact of prenatal exposure to climate stressors on
pregnant populations and infants in the Southeastern US, despite pronounced trends in climate warming, an
escalating maternal death rate, and persistent maternal and infant health disparities in the region. An important
science gap remains in identifying national climate change and health surveillance indicators, particularly for
understanding the relationship between climate change and pregnancy risks. Our long-term goal is to develop
clinic-based and public health interventions to reduce the adverse impact of climate change during pregnancy.
The overarching goal of this population-based study is to examine extreme temperature-sensitivities in
maternal and infant health risk during critical windows of pregnancy and advance understanding of the
social-environmental drivers of health disparities in a changing climate. We will achieve the following two
specific aims: Aim 1. Characterize the relationship between exposure to cold and hot ambient temperature
extremes and adverse maternal and infant health outcomes during critical periods of pregnancy; Aim 2.
Examine the joint effects of prenatal exposure to temperature extremes and socio-environmental stressors on
excess maternal and infant health risks. The new NIH Climate Change and Health Strategic Initiative has
prioritized protecting the health of pregnant populations in the face of extreme temperatures. This low-cost
retrospective birth cohort study will advance understanding on how social and environmental conditions that
occur during pregnancy interact with climate change stressors to negatively affect the health of pregnant
populations and their infants. Our expected outcomes will include: 1) the quantification of prenatal exposure to
climate change as a risk multiplier during pregnancy; and 2) the identification of maternal and infant
surveillance indicators for tracking the health effects of climate change. The proposed research is innovative
because results will 1) show how climate and social stressors interact to exacerbate climate-health risks during
pregnancy, and 2) aid in hypothesis generation on the pathways that contribute to climate resilience and the
reduction of maternal and infant health risks. This work has significant potential to be transformative to the
field through the identification of maternal or infant health outcomes as potential surveillance health indicators
of climate change impacts, which can be leveraged to measure local and state-level health interventions and
policy changes in the United States. Results will address a well-cited research need from the NIH Strategic
Climate & Health Initiative on the timing of exposure to climate str...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10809718
- **Project number:** 5R03ES035170-02
- **Recipient organization:** NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY RALEIGH
- **Principal Investigator:** Jennifer D. Runkle
- **Activity code:** R03 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $76,692
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-03-16 → 2025-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10809718

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10809718, Impact of prenatal exposure to climate stressors and severe maternal morbidity: a retrospective birth cohort study (5R03ES035170-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10809718. Licensed CC0.

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