Takeaways from AP's report on the growing dangers of heat on pregnant agriculture workers

Agricultural workers are already among the most vulnerable to extreme heat. For pregnant workers, those risks are higher because the body must work harder to cool down and requires more liquids, making it more easily dehydrated. While protections exist, experts say they need better enforcement and more are needed. The Associated Press interviewed four agricultural workers who recounted experiences of working in extreme heat while pregnant.

Here are takeaways from AP's story:

Average temperatures are increasing globally, including in the U.S.'s most agriculturally-productive states. Since the start of the 20th century, California temperatures have increased almost 3 F (1.67 C). Warming has accelerated, and seven of the past eight years in that state through 2024 have been the warmest on record. In Florida, average temperatures have increased by more than 2 F (1.11 C).

When it comes to how the body reacts to heat, even small temperature increases can be significant.

One study found that agricultural workers had more than 35 times the risk of heat-related deaths than other workers. In the U.S., an estimated one-third of farmworkers are women — an increasing share of the farm workforce.

Pregnancy increases the risks of extreme heat because the body has to work harder to cool down. Heat exposure has been linked to increased risk of miscarriages, stillbirths, preterm births, low birth weight and birth defects.

Combining pregnancy and heat with physical labor can more quickly overwhelm the body’s cooling system, increasing the likelihood of dehydration, heat illness and heat stroke.

Farmworkers are also less likely to demand employers provide adequate shade, water or rest, or speak out when they’re feeling overheated for fear of being fired or having immigration enforcement officials called on them.

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

Compounding these risks is the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Health care providers have reported seeing fewer walk-ins, patients delaying prenatal care and more pregnant patients whose first doctor’s visit was for labor and delivery, according to research by the group Physicians for Human Rights. Others have reported an increase in no-shows and canceled appointments.

No federal heat protections exist, although the Trump administration appears to be moving forward with a proposed rule. Some states, including California, have their own protections, while others, like 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 medical conditions related to birth or pregnancy. Other laws make it illegal to fire or discriminate due to those factors.

Even so, some experts said there aren’t enough legal protections for pregnant workers. “It’s probably one of the reasons why we have some of the highest rates of maternal and infant mortality in high-income countries in the world,” said Ayana DeGaia, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Washington in Harborview.

Others said it's also unclear how some of these protections are enforced in agriculture and how they benefit women farmworkers.

In Florida, a top U.S. producer of indoor plants and tropical foliage, the nursery industry’s mostly women workers have joined a fight for heat protections. In California, workers have been advocating for guaranteed compensation when they lose wages due to heat waves and other extreme weather events, as well as extra pay when they work during dangerous weather conditions.

The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

A water cooler with beads of condensation on it sits in a sugarcane field in Niland, Calif., Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025.

A farmworker harvests pears at an orchard in Naches, Wash., Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)

FILE - A doctor uses a hand-held Doppler probe on a pregnant woman to measure the heartbeat of the fetus, Dec. 17, 2021, in Jackson, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

A farmworker harvests pears at an orchard in Naches, Wash., Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)

RHO, Italy (AP) — No ice is colder and harder than speedskating ice. The precision it takes has meant that Olympic speedskaters have never competed for gold on a temporary indoor rink – until the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.

In the pursuit of maximum glide and minimum friction, Olympic officials brought on ice master Mark Messer, a veteran of six previous Olympic speedskating tracks and the ice technician in charge of the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada — one of the fastest tracks in the world with over 300 records.

Messer has been putting that experience to work one thin layer of ice at a time since the end of October at the new Speed Skating Stadium, built inside adjacent trade fair halls in the city of Rho just north of Milan.

“It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in icemaking,’’ Messer said during an interview less than two weeks into the process.

If Goldilocks were a speedskater, hockey ice would be medium hard, for fast puck movement and sharp turns. Figure skating ice would be softer, allowing push off for jumps and so the ice doesn’t shatter on landing. Curling ice is the softest and warmest of all, for controlled sliding.

For speedskating ice to be just right, it must be hard, cold and clean. And very, very smooth.

“The blades are so sharp, that if there is some dirt, the blade will lose the edge,’’ Messer said, and the skater will lose speed.

Speedskater Enrico Fabris, who won two Olympic golds in Turin in 2006, has traded in his skates to be deputy sports manager at the speedskating venue in Rho. For him, perfect ice means the conditions are the same for all skaters — and then if it's fast ice, so much the better.

"It's more of a pleasure to skate on this ice,'' he said.

Messer’s first Olympics were in Calgary in 1988 — the first time speedskating was held indoors. “That gave us some advantages because we didn’t have to worry about the weather, wind blowing or rain,’’ he said. Now he is upping the challenge by becoming the first ice master to build a temporary rink for the Olympics.

Before Messer arrived in Italy, workers spent weeks setting up insulation to level the floor and then a network of pipes and rubber tubes that carry glycol — an antifreeze — that is brought down to minus 7 or minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) to make the ice.

Water is run through a purification system — but it can’t be too pure, or the ice that forms will be too brittle. Just the right amount of impurities “holds the ice together,’’ Messer said.

The first layers of water are applied slowly, with a spray nozzle; after the ice reaches a few centimeters it is painted white — a full day’s work — and the stripes are added to make lanes.

“The first one takes about 45 minutes. And then as soon as it freezes, we go back and do it again, and again and again. So we do it hundreds of times,’’ Messer said.

As the ice gets thicker, and is more stable, workers apply subsequent layers of water with hoses. Messer attaches his hose to hockey sticks for easier spreading.

What must absolutely be avoided is dirt, dust or frost — all of which can cause friction for the skaters, slowing them down. The goal is that when the skaters push “they can go as far as possible with the least amount of effort,’’ Messer said.

The Zamboni ice resurfacing machine plays a key role in keeping the track clean, cutting off a layer and spraying water to make a new surface.

One challenge is gauging how quickly the water from the resurfacing machine freezes in the temporary rink.

Another is getting the ice to the right thickness so that the Zamboni, weighing in at six tons, doesn’t shift the insulation, rubber tubing or ice itself.

“When you drive that out, if there’s anything moving it will move. We don’t want that,’’ Messer said.

The rink got its first big test on Nov. 29-30 during a Junior World Cup event. In a permanent rink, test events are usually held a year before the Olympics, leaving more time for adjustments. “We have a very small window to learn,’’ Messer acknowledged.

Dutch speedskater Kayo Vos, who won the men’s neo-senior 1,000 meters, said the ice was a little soft — but Messer didn’t seem too concerned.

“We went very modest to start, now we can start to change the temperatures and try to make it faster and still maintain it as a safe ice,’’ he said.

Fine-tuning the air temperature and humidity and ice temperature must be done methodically — taking into account that there will be 6,000 spectators in the venue for each event. The next real test will be on Jan. 31, when the Olympians take to the ice for their first training session.

“Eighty percent of the work is done but the hardest part is the last 20 percent, where we have to try to find the values and the way of running the equipment so all the skaters get the same conditions and all the skaters get the best conditions,’’ Messer said.

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Serpentines are set on the ice of the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Workers clean the ice surface during a peed skating Junior World Cup and Olympic test event, in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)