"One hot day last summer, Clarisa Lugo was inspecting and counting corn and soybean plants in the middle of a 300-acre farm field in Illinois when she started throwing up and panting. Her heart raced, she stopped sweating and a pounding headache didn’t go away for hours.
The heat index — a blend of temperature and humidity — had hit 105 F (40.56 C), and Lugo, who was eight months pregnant, was suffering from heat illness.
“I remember that that day it was hard for me to go back to normal” despite drinking water and putting ice on her body, she recalled.
Agricultural workers are already among the most vulnerable to extreme heat, and pregnant workers are coming under greater risk as temperatures rise because of climate change. Many in the U.S. are low-income Latino immigrants who toil under the sizzling sun or in humid nurseries open year round. Heat exposure has been linked to many extra risks for pregnant people, and while protections exist, experts say they need better enforcement and more safeguards are needed."
SEE ALSO:
"For Pregnant People, Extreme Heat Comes With Extra Risks" (AP)
"Takeaways From AP’s Report On The Growing Dangers Of Heat On Pregnant Agriculture Workers" (AP)
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