Researchers explore relationship between climate crisis and reproductive health: 'They're fundamentally interconnected'

A study of more than 820,000 girls and women, ages 15-49, found that rising global temperatures and their effects are impacting reproductive health and well-being across the globe.

“We've been treating reproductive health as separate from climate policy, when they're fundamentally interconnected,” Meg “Bee” Brown, lead author of the study, said in a press release. "The same climate events that disrupt agricultural systems are simultaneously compromising contraceptive supply chains and access. They’re also changing women’s reproductive health preferences and needs.”  

The study "The Complex Relationship between Climate Anomalies and Reproductive Decision-Making in Low- and Middle-Income Countries," was conducted by climate and health researchers at YLabs; University of California, Berkeley; the University of New Mexico; and Imperial College London. 

The researchers analyzed data from 33 LMICs across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East to look at how contraceptive use and autonomy as well as fertility preferences were affected by extreme heat and precipitation.

Published in the journal Frontiers in Global Women’s Health in September, the study offered notable takeaways, such as: 

• Exposure to extreme heat and intense precipitation was found to be associated with lower modern contraception usage, with some variation between groups and locations
• Younger and unmarried women as well as women without children "were especially vulnerable to climate-related disruptions in contraceptive access and use"
• A large number of women (41 percent) using heat-sensitive contraception live where average temperatures exceeded the recommended heat for storage

The study aligns with concerns raised by many in the field. 

“We’ve been hearing anecdotal stories from ground-level advocates for several years about how climate change is impacting women’s health and reproductive autonomy," said Theodora Gibbs, co-author and climate director at YLabs, in the release, "but this study gives the sector a powerful multi-country evidence base — which is essential for policy and donor investment decisions." 

Researchers identified several interventions that could have real-world impacts, including:

• Development of heat-resistant contraceptives
• Supply chain improvements for climate-vulnerable regions
• Development of targeted programs for groups facing disproportionate impacts
• Integration of climate resilience planning into reproductive health services and policies
• More research on how repeated climate shocks affect reproductive autonomy

As the co-authors underscore, continued data generation and analysis will be needed to map a clear and comprehensive picture of climate impacts on reproductive decision-making. But some of the potential solutions to address issues like disrupted access to care will resonate with many in the field who've already helped overcome similar challenges.

For example, oxytocin has been a crucial medicine for treating postpartum hemorrhage, the leading cause of maternal death — but it requires cold storage. To address the lack of refrigeration in many settings around the world, researchers developed heat-stable carbetocin as an alternative resilient to higher temperatures.

Others are working to advance the development of heat-stable microarray patches to deliver vaccines and other essential medicines in remote and low-resource settings where a cold chain cannot be guaranteed.

Contraceptive developers can take on the same challenge, creating products that remain safe and effective despite extreme heat. And program managers can work to improve access to longer-acting methods where desired, with a goal of limiting climate-related service disruptions — those relying on shorter-acting products may need to re-up on their method more frequently, increasing the chances that a major flood, for example, could interrupt their use.

Developers looking to fund this type of work might explore resources like the Contraceptive Technology Innovation Exchange for potential opportunities. And those looking to learn more about the growing body of knowledge at the intersection of extreme weather and reproductive health can dive into the Climate-SRHR Evidence Hub, where visitors will also find a directory of researchers working on these crucial topics.