Frontiers in global women's health
Left to cope alone: how pregnant and postpartum women and their newborns manage extreme heat in coastal Kilifi, Kenya
By Lusambili A, Scorgie F, Chersich M and 6 others.
Abstract
Background
In coastal Kenya, high seasonal temperatures compound structural challenges that include intermittent water access, resulting in health burdens from extreme heat. Women can experience limitations in the coping strategies available to them for protecting their health and wellbeing from high indoor and outdoor temperatures. This paper, drawing on the Climate Heat and Maternal Neonatal Health Africa (CHAMNHA) study, aims to describe how mothers and their newborns in rural Kilifi cope with extreme heat in their daily routines.
Methods
This qualitative study draws on key informant interviews, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions with pregnant and postpartum women (n = 22), mothers-in-law (n = 19), male spouses (n = 20), community health volunteers (n = 22), as well as frontline health providers, policy influencers, and government stakeholders (n = 16). Participants were recruited in Rabai and Kaloleni Counties in Kilifi, on Kenya's coast, during a season characterised by extreme heat and drought. Data were analysed using NVivo 12, applying a combination of inductive and deductive thematic approaches.