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Climate change is often measured in degrees, records, and extreme weather alerts. Dr. Venkata Madhavi Latha Telagarapu sees another measure that deserves equal attention: what rising heat may mean for pregnant women and their babies. “Maternal and fetal health should be part of the climate and health conversation,” she says. It is a conviction that brings together two defining sides of her career: nearly two decades in obstetrics and a growing body of work in public health, environmental exposure, reproductive medicine, and research guided by data.
Certified by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG), Telagarapu is a gynecologist, obstetrician, infertility specialist, and sonologist who spent years caring for women across India. Her work included managing high-risk pregnancies and deliveries, treating infertility and reproductive health conditions, and leading community programs focused on cancer screening, HPV vaccination, and women’s health education. Her clinical experience and research gave her a clear vantage point from which to ask a timely question: how might extreme heat affect pregnancy?
The question grew from both observation and concern. “I was inspired by the growing health impacts of climate change on vulnerable populations,” Telagarapu explains. “My clinical experience in obstetrics over nearly two decades motivated me to explore how heat stress could pose additional risks to mothers and their babies.” Florida, with its year-round heat exposure, offered a relevant setting to investigate the issue and build evidence that could eventually guide prevention and public health planning.
Her analysis focused on pregnancy outcomes in Florida between 2015 and 2019. Telagarapu observed that preterm births and low birth weight increased during the period, even as overall live births declined. The highest rates of those adverse outcomes appeared during the warmer summer and fall months. She is careful not to turn an association into a final conclusion, but she believes the pattern deserves serious attention. “It suggests that heat exposure may be an emerging risk factor for maternal and infant health, particularly as temperatures continue to rise with climate change,” she says.
While pursuing a Master of Public Health (MPH) at the University of Miami, Telagarapu presented these research findings at the university’s 2023 Climate and Health Annual Symposium, marking a pivotal moment in her career. The event allowed her to connect the realities she had witnessed in obstetric care with a broader public health conversation. Feedback from public health leaders reinforced the value of studying heat exposure among pregnant women, while discussions at the symposium emphasized the need for larger studies and strategies grounded in evidence. For Telagarapu, the presentation was not an endpoint. It became a bridge to the next phase of her research: examining how heat stress may affect IVF treatment outcomes.
For extreme heat and pregnancy, Telagarapu believes the next steps should include larger population studies, clearer identification of the people most at risk, and a better understanding of the most critical exposure periods during pregnancy. She also points to practical public health measures, including greater awareness among healthcare providers and pregnant women, stronger heat safety guidance, and strategies that reduce exposure during periods of extreme temperatures.
Her career brought together delivery rooms, community health programs, and reproductive and environmental health research, but the central concern remained the same: protecting patients by asking questions that medicine cannot afford to overlook. “As global temperatures continue to rise,” Telagarapu says, “more research is needed to better understand the potential risks of extreme heat and to develop strategies grounded in evidence that help protect women and their babies.”
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