Agricultural workers are among the people most vulnerable to extreme heat. They toil under the hot sun and in humid greenhouses or nurseries, often with few breaks and places to adequately cool. For pregnant agricultural workers, those risks are higher because the body must work harder to cool down and requires more liquids, making it more easily dehydrated.

Coupled with exertion, extreme heat exposes workers to more health risks, including miscarriages, stillbirths, preterm births and low birth weight in infants. As global temperatures rise, researchers and advocates say more protections are needed to ensure the health and well-being of pregnant agricultural workers and their babies.

No federal heat protections exist in the U.S., although the Trump administration appears to be moving forward with a proposed rule. Some states, including California and Washington, have their own protections, while others, like Texas and Florida, have barred local governments from implementing their own. In states with protections, advocates say they’re not adequately enforced and pointed to a widespread distrust of reporting systems.

More than 30 states and cities have laws requiring employers to provide accommodations for pregnant workers. Most recently, 2023's federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act requires employers to provide “reasonable accommodations” to pregnant workers, those who recently gave birth or have related medical conditions unless they will cause the employer “undue hardship.” Other laws make it illegal to fire or discriminate due to those factors.

Pregnant farmworkers in rural areas already have less access to maternity care because clinics are farther away and finding transportation could be difficult. Other times, they can’t afford to miss hours of work or aren't given time off. Many also don't get employer-sponsored medical care or paid leave. 

At home, farmworkers might find little escape from extreme temperatures because they are more likely to lack air conditioning, be lower income or live in hotter areas.

Experts say that as human-caused climate change continues, heat waves will only get longer, hotter and more frequent and without adequate protections and enforcement, pregnant farmworkers and their unborn babies will suffer the consequences.

(AP Video by Annika Hammerschlag, produced by Joshua A. Bickel)

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