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Ambient Temperature During Pregnancy And Risk Of Maternal Hypertensive Disorders: A Time-To-Event Study In Johannesburg, South Africa, Chérie Part, Jean Le Roux, Matthew Chersichb, Shobna Sawry, Véronique Filippi, Nathalie Roos, Lee Fairlie, Britt Nakstad, Jeroen De Bont, Stanley Luchters

Institute for Human Development

Hypertensive disorders in pregnancy are a leading cause of maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity. We evaluate the effects of ambient temperature on risk of maternal hypertensive disorders throughout pregnancy. We used birth register data for all singleton births (22–43 weeks' gestation) recorded at a tertiary-level hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa, between July 2017–June 2018. Time-to-event analysis was combined with distributed lag non-linear models to examine the effects of mean weekly temperature, from conception to birth, on risk of (i) high blood pressure, hypertension, or gestational hypertension, and (ii) pre-eclampsia, eclampsia, or HELLP (hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, low platelets). Low …