Left to cope alone: how pregnant and postpartum women and their newborns manage extreme heat in coastal Kilifi, Kenya

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.