CLIMATE CHANGE: When the Rain Won’t Let Up—How Persistent Downpours Threaten Mothers and Babies

Photo of Mother and Child in the Rain

 

By Oluchi Omai

In the riverside community of Ugep, Cross River State, heavy rain is meant to bring relief. Instead, it brings new risks for mothers and their newborns. Last rainy season, 28-year-old Emem Ekpo laboured through flooded lanes to reach the nearest clinic. By the time she arrived, her baby was already distressed. “I carried my daughter in my arms and waded through knee-high water,” she recalls. “The flooding delayed my arrival, and I feared I’d lose her.”

Emem’s story is far from unique. Around the world, climate change is making rainier seasons wetter and flood-prone areas more dangerous. For expectant mothers and infants—among the most vulnerable population groups—persistent downpours do more than drench the land; they threaten lives.

The Hidden Dangers of Too Much Rain

Heavy and continuous rainfall can spark flooding, landslides and water-logging that knock out roads and contaminate drinking supplies. In the weeks after extreme downpours, studies link an 8 percent rise in overall mortality, a 5 percent increase in deaths from heart conditions and a 29 percent jump in respiratory fatalities. For newborns with immature immune systems, even a simple cough can spiral into pneumonia when homes are damp and crowded.

Floodwaters often carry bacteria and parasites from overflowing latrines into drinking sources. Infants exposed to polluted water face a higher risk of diarrhoea, which can be fatal without prompt rehydration and medical care. Mothers are also at risk: standing water breeds mosquitoes, spreading malaria and other vector-borne diseases. And when roads are washed away or submerged, clinic visits for antenatal checks and skilled birth attendance become impossible.

“The biggest barrier is access,” explains Dr Aisha Bello, obstetrician at Calabar General Hospital. “During flooding, women miss prenatal appointments. They arrive in labour with unmonitored complications. Our neonatal unit fills up with babies suffering sepsis and dehydration.”

Climate Change Worsens an Existing Health Gap

Even before climate change, many rural areas struggled with poor health infrastructure. Mobile clinics may visit once a month; community health workers are stretched thin. When floods strike, these fragile systems buckle. A recent policy brief notes that standing water not only raises infection rates but also creates barriers to maternal health services in flood-hit regions.

In 2024, global assessments found that extreme weather events disrupt supply chains for essential medicines and emergency transport for complications such as preeclampsia or obstructed labour. In the worst cases, births take place at home without skilled help, driving up maternal deaths.

Hope and Practical Remedies

Tackling these challenges demands both community-level action and stronger policies. Here are three practical steps already making a difference:

1. Flood-Resilient Infrastructure
   – Raising clinic floors above known flood levels and improving drainage around health centres helps keep them functional during heavy rains.
   – Temporary footbridges and elevated walkways enable pregnant women to cross flooded streams without wading through contaminated water.

2. Community-Based Early Warning Systems
   – Simple SMS networks and local radio alerts can warn families when rivers are rising, allowing mothers to plan safe routes or seek temporary shelter closer to medical facilities.
   – Village health committees can organise on-call volunteers with motorbikes to shuttle women in labour to the nearest clinic.

3. Mobile Health and Telemedicine
   – Equipping community health workers with smartphones and solar chargers lets them video-call doctors in the city for urgent guidance when movement is impossible.
   – Home-delivery of prenatal supplements and oral rehydration salts during flood season ensures that basic care continues, even when roads are impassable.

Policy Support and Investment

Governments must back these community solutions with clear policies and funding. Integrating maternal health into national climate adaptation plans ensures that pregnant women are not an afterthought in disaster strategies. Key policy measures include:

• Mandating flood-proof design for all new clinics in high-risk areas.

• Allocating emergency transport budgets specifically for obstetric cases during extreme weather.

• Training and equipping local midwives to perform safe home deliveries when roads collapse.

At the international level, aid agencies and donors should tie climate-resilience grants to maternal and newborn health targets. This approach not only saves lives today but also lowers long-term healthcare costs by preventing complications that require intensive treatment.

Looking Forward

For Emem and her baby, timely medical care arrived just in time. Her daughter, Hope, recovered after a short stay in the neonatal ward. But across Nigeria’s flood-plain states, many mothers and infants remain at risk. As climate change intensifies downpours, building resilient health systems and communities is no longer optional—it is essential.

When the rain comes, it will still fall. Our challenge is to make sure it no longer drowns hope and health. By combining local ingenuity with policy support, we can ensure that every mother walks safely to her clinic, and every newborn takes their first breath in clean, dry air.

References

6. Wilson Center, “Climate Change and Maternal and Newborn Health Outcomes”
7. Ji J.S., “Rainfall events and adverse health outcomes,” BMJ 2024;387:q2053