How I survived the record Paris heatwave while seven months pregnant | Extreme heat
IIn the summer of 2019, a “fun” idea for a work came to my mind. Paris was about to experience the hottest day in its history, and I suggested we drive around the city and try various cooling strategies to see if they would help. Reader, they were no fun and unhelpful.
Last week, Paris suffered its worst heat spell on record, worse than that day in 2019 and worse than in 2003, when a persistent heatwave killed nearly 15,000 people. Now I live in the poorest neighborhood of Seine-Saint-Denis area in mainland France and one of the most exposed I’ve been exposed to extreme heat, and on top of that, I’m seven months pregnant. So how was my week this time?
Tuesday
When I found out I was pregnant, my biggest concern was that I would give birth in the summer; Many French hospitals are not air-conditioned and are not built to withstand heat waves. I planned to ask about the extreme heat plan at an information session this afternoon, but the session was canceled due to the heat wave.
A friend of mine, who had been away from me for a few weeks, had checked into an air-conditioned hotel with her husband because the heat in their apartment was causing contractions. While this wasn’t an affordable option for most, they told me it was full of other pregnant women. For us pregnant Parisians, the priority is clear: do not give birth this week if possible. I rented a portable air conditioner that arrives tomorrow and hopefully that will get me through the weekend when the heat is expected to finally dissipate.
Wednesday
I have a meeting at the health center this morning. At 9.30am it is already 30C (86F) and for some reason they are queuing people outside in the scorching heat, although due to my condition I am shown mercy and let in immediately. While I was reviewing the forms, a woman fell ill at the front desk with an apparent heatstroke. “We need water here!” A staff member searches for him as people rush to attend to him.
A distant friend offered me his desk in an air-conditioned office, which was a blessing. At a nearby child care center, staff taped reflective rescue blankets over the windows as they hosed down young children in the courtyard. A man places his belongings and bed under a shady archway, trying to sleep during the hottest hours of the day.
The magazine office where I’ll be working is in a trendy converted factory, above a modeling agency. This is Paris, heatwave or not, it’s always fashion week in some way. The staff looks horrified as I slowly move my sweaty old pregnant body towards a sign that reads CASTING CALL as various sylph-like figures pass me by.
When I get home, I see that the air conditioner I rented is delayed. It comes shortly after midnight and I’m too tired to set it up properly before going to bed.
Thursday
Air conditioner does nothing. When I open the window to let the drain pipe out, I allow too much heat in and this negates the cooling effect. When my partner gets home from work in the evening, he puts away the window kit that I’m too tired to install on my own, and the temperature finally starts to drop a few degrees. Thank God, I can work again.
On social media, no one can talk about anything other than the heat. A new father in Bordeaux shares a video from the maternity unit; It was 36 degrees inside the hospital and a healthcare worker fainted from heatstroke. there was 25 heart attacks in 24 hours Paris wide.
Friday
I spend the morning indoors with the blinds closed, then return to the magazine office in the afternoon. People in the park across the road sit listlessly on shady benches. The temperature is 38C (100F) and there is no breeze, but the occasional splash from the fountain provides the most temporary relief.
If I see another photo of a young man backflipping into a canal, I’m going to scream. When I see this apocalypse week represented in the media, I also want to see pictures of the homeless woman. seven months pregnantHe lives on the streets of the 11th district. I want to see kids being sent home from school because their classrooms are unsafe and hospitals can’t care for their patients. The climate crisis actually looks like this.
Emergency services reported 109 deaths in Paris in 24 hours. usually around seven this time of year. A bus driver succumbed to the heat in the west of the city and crashed his car into a tree.
Saturday
My body gave up. In the morning, everything hurts and my legs cramp.
In the afternoons, I try to cool off at my local park with my dog, who is still with us and seems to be the toughest of us all. We take shelter in the shade wherever possible. In my new neighborhood, government buildings, like every city hall in central Paris, no longer have air-conditioned “recreational rooms” that vulnerable populations can use to cool off.
Instead, I take refuge in the cinema (Reveal Day: 3/10, cinema air conditioning: 10/10).
Towards the end of the week, health authorities announced 1000 people died in France in three days. The number of toddlers killed in hot cars is now four. There were drowning deaths reached 74.
The last time I wrote a journal like this in 2019, I felt a gnawing anxiety about global warming that never quite left me. But now my feelings are turning into outright anger.
Profit of domestic fossil fuel company TotalEnergies €5.8 billion (£5bn) in the first quarter of 2026 and the AI lobby is pushing the EU to abandon already inadequate climate targets to prioritize construction data centers. City officials have taken some measures to cope, but it still feels like we’re being abandoned to our fate by those in power. And yes, even if I’m pregnant, I’m still one of the lucky ones.
French President Emmanuel Macron said, “We cannot adapt to a heat wave that is unprecedented in Europe today and unprecedented in our history.” he said on thursday. You may not have to wait long for this equivalent; forecasters Another extreme heat wave is predicted for next week.
