Women and children in low-resource settings are among the most vulnerable to both the direct and indirect impacts of severe weather events such as cyclones. However, no studies have examined the effects of cyclones on maternal or child health in Sub-Saharan Africa. We were conducting a longitudinal cohort study of mother-infant pairs studying maternal mental health and child neurodevelopment at the time that Cyclone Freddy (one of the most powerful cyclones ever recorded) hit our study site in Blantyre, Malawi. We used the data collected as part of this cohort study to examine the impact of the cyclone on maternal mental health and child development.

We found evidence that mother-infant pairs exposed to the cyclone have significant differences in mental health, quality of mother-child interaction, child growth, and neurodevelopment than unexposed pairs. These data provide evidence for a need to strengthen mental health resources after natural disasters in low- resource settings, an often overlooked aspect of disaster relief.