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PERSPECTIVE article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Perinatal Psychiatry
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1515895
This article is part of the Research Topic Women in Psychiatry 2024: Perinatal Psychiatry View all articles

The Connection between Climate Change and Perinatal Mental Health

Provisionally accepted
Jennifer Barkin Jennifer Barkin 1Sanne Van Rhijn Sanne Van Rhijn 2,3*Chloe Johnson Chloe Johnson 1
  • 1 Mercer University, Macon, Georgia, United States
  • 2 Department of Brain Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, England, United Kingdom
  • 3 West London Mental Health NHS Trust, Southall, Ealing, United Kingdom

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Climate change and extreme weather events are particularly concerning for pregnant and postpartum women and have been related to negative birth outcomes. However, the impact of climate change on perinatal mental health outcomes is not well studied. Mood and anxiety disorders are among the leading comorbidities during pregnancy and the postpartum period, and they are associated with significant familial and societal burdens. It is crucial to include environmental factors in the risk profile of perinatal mental illness to optimize prevention and early intervention strategies. In the clinical experience of one of the authors, new mothers can feel particularly concerned about their baby’s physical health when faced with extreme heat or may present as agitated due to heat-related sleep deprivation. This is in line with qualitative research showing maternal worrying about a baby’s thermal dysregulation as one of the emerging themes. With extreme weather events becoming more frequent, clinicians have a role in advocating for climate adaptation in healthcare settings. Climate inequalities need to be addressed alongside health and social inequalities.

    Keywords: climate chance, Perinatal mental health, extreme weather, Maternal Mental Health, heat

    Received: 23 Oct 2024; Accepted: 23 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Barkin, Van Rhijn and Johnson. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Sanne Van Rhijn, Department of Brain Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, England, United Kingdom

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.