It is past time for the government to enact legislation prohibiting prayer camps from interfering with the provision of maternity healthcare in the nation.
This is due to the activities of the majority of prayer camps being detrimental to the provision of prenatal care and maternal healthcare in general. It appears that the situation is worse in rural regions than in populated places.
SDG 3
If caution is not exercised, this phenomena will greatly contribute to the nation's failure to reach Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG3) by 2030, much as Ghana failed to fulfil MDGs 4 and 5 in 2015.
It goes without saying that maternal healthcare delivery meets both the pregnant woman's and her unborn child's health needs.
Prenatal care (ANC) should not be provided by a spiritual centre, such as a prayer camp, because ANC is a physical necessity rather than a spiritual one.
The Bible says that the same God provides various people distinct abilities, services, and works to serve humanity (1 Corinthians 12:4-6).
It suffices to mention that the prayer camp management and medical staff both serve the same God.
vs a camp for praying
While individuals in charge of prayer camps also have the talent of addressing spiritual concerns, unlike medical professionals who are taught, required, and gifted to deliver various forms of healthcare to the populace. Therefore, prayer camps must avoid clinical situations such problems from pregnancy.
A prayer camp is not a prenatal clinic, as the name suggests, but rather a camp for praying. Sadly, the majority of prayer groups frequently mistakenly label physical ailments as spiritual ones. As a result, they counsel their patients against obtaining medical attention, which subsequently worsens and results in avoidable deaths.
Thus, it is not surprising that prayer camps are described by Wikipedia as "religious institutions that provide alternatives to hospitals for a variety of illnesses in Ghana and Togo." They employed techniques like starving and chaining patients.
hazardous behaviours
Pregnant women's health conditions gradually get worse when prayer camps push them to fast and consume "holy oil."
For instance, modernghana.com reported on November 4, 2017, that several pregnant women in the Eastern Region's New Juaben municipality chose a bowl of "holy" palm nut soup at a prayer camp in Koforidua over visiting maternity facilities.
How a "holy" palm nut soup may treat pregnancy risk indicators including bleeding, foetal distress, oligohydramnios, pre-eclampsia, malpresentations, or even ectopic pregnancy, is a mystery.
It is also common known that other prayer groups violently rub pregnant women's bellies, causing foetal pain and placenta separation.
This significant pregnancy issue, which happens when the placenta separates from the womb's inner wall, is known medically as abruptio placentae. It occurs when the placenta separates from the infant.
One may argue that pregnancy and unborn children suffer more from prayer camps' negative effects than their positive ones.
A rhetorical inquiry is appropriate in relation to the administrators of prayer camps rubbing the bellies of expectant ladies.
What is the purpose of a prayer camp touching a pregnant woman's abdomen to help the baby fit comfortably in the uterus?
pregnancy separation
According to medical literature, therapy for abruptio placentae may involve bed rest or a Caesarean Section (CS) to prevent death, depending on the degree of placental separation and how near the baby is to full term.
Without a prompt and effective professional intervention, abruptio placentae frequently poses a risk to both the pregnant woman and her unborn child.