Baba Island: A number of expectant mothers wait in an oppressive heat wave for the lone midwife to come from the mainland on this heavily inhabited island off the coast of Karachi, Pakistan.
Every week, Neha Mankani travels to Baba, an abandoned fishing village that is home to some 6,500 people squeezed into 0.15 square kilometers (0.06 miles), making it one of the world’s most populated islands.
Rising temperatures brought on by climate change are frying the land and enlarging the surrounding seas. Prior to Mankani’s ambulance service beginning operations last year, expecting mothers were abandoned to the elements.
Zainab Bibi, 26, is waiting at the gate of her island clinic. She miscarried last summer in her second trimester and is now expecting again.
She recalled, “I was not feeling well, and it was a very hot day.” Her husband had to bargain with boat owners for hours before one of them consented to take them to the mainland, by which point it was too late.
“By the time I delivered my baby in the hospital, she was already dead,” she stated.
Summertime heat affects fertility
As a result of climate change, Pakistan—one of the nations most susceptible to extreme weather—is seeing hotter, longer, and more frequent heatwaves.
A series of heatwaves in May and June had seen days with highs of 52°C (126°F).
On the 20-minute boat ride, 38-year-old Mankani told AFP, “Climate change doesn’t affect everyone equally.”
