Screening for Heat Related Illness in Pregnant People: Sample Case Study for Clinician Education

Abstract

AbstractClimate change has significant implications for pregnant people. The Heat‐Related Illness Screening Tool was developed by faculty in the nurse‐led Center for Climate Change, Climate Justice, and Health at the MGH Institute of Health Professions. In an effort to integrate content on the health effects of climate change on pregnant people, faculty in the Women's Health/Gender‐Related Nurse Practitioner program in the School of Nursing developed a case study that incorporated heat and environmental exposures in pregnancy into an existing module on preterm birth. The case study aims to increase awareness about the intersections between climate change, social determinants of health, structural racism, and potential adverse pregnancy outcomes. Together this case study and screening tool for heat‐related illness represent innovations for health professions educators and clinicians to detect intensifying risks to already vulnerable people who are pregnant.