Reverend Eastwood Anaba, the President of the Eastwood Anaba Ministries (EAM)
Reverend Eastwood Anaba, the President of Eastwood Anaba Ministries (EAM), has called on healthcare professionals to pay critical attention to the safety of expectant mothers during childbirth.
He said the Bible promises women’s safety in childbearing and urged healthcare professionals to pray and work hard to achieve that objective.
The renowned preacher quoted 1 Timothy 2:14-15, explaining that the “Bible strongly recommends support and teaches safety in childbearing for women.”
Reverend Anaba made the call when he chaired the opening ceremony of the 2024 annual performance review meeting of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) in Bolgatanga, in the Upper East Region.
The two-day meeting was themed: “Using Network of Practice (NoP) to Drive Universal Access to Quality Maternal Health Care.”
The NoP, a healthcare model that connects public and private health facilities within a geographic area, consists of a hub—a well-resourced central facility offering essential primary healthcare services—and ‘spokes’ established to provide complementary services.
The review meeting brought together officials of the Service from the national, regional, municipal, and district levels, as well as medical directors and superintendents, administrators, partners, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in health, traditional rulers, and other stakeholders.
The forum offered GHS management the opportunity to take stock of their performance in the year under review and strategize to improve health service delivery in the region in subsequent years.
To improve the quality of maternal healthcare delivery in the region, Rev. Anaba, a pharmacist by training, suggested that maternal healthcare should begin at home and not only at NoP centers.
He explained that by the time some expectant mothers arrived at health centers, they might already be endangered due to emotional challenges and domestic abuse.
“Husbands and family members must offer women the necessary support, love, and affection before they send them to the health facilities. A kiss, a peck, or a warm embrace from a husband could be medicinal, even before somebody gives them an injection,” he said.
The EAM President, who is also the Founder of Fountain Gate Chapel (FGC) and Senior Pastor at Desert Pastures, a branch of the FGC, noted that a weakened state of an expectant mother would make the work of NoPs harder.
He emphasized that “outmoded and dangerous taboos, coupled with all the superstitions we have, should be discouraged in our societies. The stigma and belief in witchcraft practices remain some of the most common hindrances to the welfare of women in Africa.
“Our religious and traditional rulers need to be bold and ruthless in our bid to revolutionize society by eradicating traditions and superstitions that endanger the lives of women,” Rev. Anaba said.
He noted that the availability of first-class medical facilities, equipment, and personnel was crucial to eliminating maternal deaths, adding that the eradication of poverty was also essential for the provision of efficient maternal healthcare.
Rev. Anaba prayed that operating theatres and labour wards would be birthplaces, not battlefields; places of joy, not jungles of despair; and places of celebration, not funeral grounds.