Abstract Iraq is one of the world's most climate-vulnerable populations that faces a severe public health crisis as extreme heat threatens maternal and reproductive health. Summer temperatures usually exceed 50°C, putting pregnant women at heightened risk of complications like preterm birth, stillbirth, and pre-eclampsia. In this commentary, we discuss the physiological impacts of heat stress on pregnancy and highlight the systemic challenges within Iraq's healthcare system. We emphasise that immediate, targeted interventions are necessary to protect vulnerable women and newborns from the escalating effects of climate change. This requires integrating heat-risk adaptation into national health strategies, strengthening healthcare infrastructure, and closing critical data gaps to inform policy and safeguard future generations in Iraq and other climate-vulnerable regions.
Ammar et al. (Sun,) studied this question.