India, July 19 -- The monsoon is romantic when you're watching it from a window with a cup of chai. It feels quite different when you're carrying a baby through it. The reassuring part first: Monsoon weather does not, on its own, harm a healthy pregnancy. But it can chip away at a mother's day-to-day comfort, and comfort matters far more than we give it credit for. A woman who is sleeping badly, feeling bloated, and stuck indoors for weeks isn't just uncomfortable. She's more tired, more anxious, and less able to enjoy a phase of life that deserves to be enjoyed.

Start with the humidity, because that is what most women complain about first. Pregnancy already raises body temperature and blood volume. Add air that refuses to absorb sweat, ...