Yesterday’s Financial Times featured the MAGENTA project in an article on how rising global temperatures are affecting pregnancy outcomes worldwide.
FT Global Health Editor, Sarah Neville, visited Swansea at the end of the summer to witness the team’s work firsthand. She met participant Sammie Bond, Research Midwife Sophie Barry-Richards, and Co-Investigator Professor Cathy Thornton.
Photo 1: MAGENTA Research Midwife Sophie Barry-Richards and participant Sammie Bond.
MAGENTA investigates how heat during pregnancy affects outcomes in Wales and London, combining biological studies, population data analysis, and climate-health forecasting. Household and population-level data are linked with environmental and meteorological records for more than 300,000 births in Wales and 1.1 million in London, helping researchers understand common and rare adverse outcomes and which stages of pregnancy are most vulnerable.
Professor Thornton, who leads MAGENTA’s biological research, explained in the article why Swansea was chosen:
“When we started talking about it, we were like, ‘Should we be doing this in Swansea? Let’s get Brazil on board.’ However, after reviewing the literature, I realised that extreme heat was a relative, not an absolute concept: the danger lay in a woman’s exposure to levels of heat to which she was not acclimatised.”
The project collects biological samples from participating pregnant women and monitors foetal health before, during, and after heat events. Wearable devices track heart rate and blood volume, providing real-world data that supports population-level models.
Photo 2: Research technician Felicity Church preparing blood samples in the lab to study how immune cells respond to heat during pregnancy.
Laboratory research is analysing these samples to study immune-cell responses at different stages of pregnancy. Professor Thornton notes:
“Some changes in the number and activity of these cells are a hallmark of a healthy pregnancy. But others are correlated with adverse outcomes, and while it is too early to come up with definitive hypotheses, it does look like, in the heat, these populations of cells undergo further changes in numbers . . . that point to these adverse effects.”
Research midwife Sophie Barry-Richards highlights the clinical importance:
“Most women, and even healthcare professionals, aren’t aware of the risks heat poses during pregnancy. Midwives, obstetricians, and anaesthetists are not trained or given any knowledge on it. Our work helps bridge that gap and provides real-time, actionable insights for expecting mothers.”
In Swansea, the team also uses NASA-inspired heat-mapping technology and indoor sensors in participants’ homes to capture precise exposure readings. These data, combined with population and laboratory findings, are being used to forecast future pregnancy risks under different climate scenarios, helping policymakers plan for healthcare needs and assess potential mitigating strategies.
MAGENTA is funded by The Wellcome Trust and is led by Swansea University in partnership with the Kids’ Environment & Health Cohort at University College London (UCL).
Read the full article on the Financial Times website.