May 10, 2021 Fearing a miscarriage, one Michigan woman spent the night in the emergency room alone, without her husband. Another first-time mom was told to watch YouTube videos to prepare after her hospital’s birthing classes were canceled. A third Michigan mother was back to work treating COVID-19 patients in a hospital emergency room just 10 weeks after giving birth. Pregnancy brings with it a host of physical aches. It takes a mental and emotional toll, and spurs anxieties about the life growing inside your body. Add in a global pandemic, and new mothers today face a difficult path and, in some cases, seemingly impossible choices. Should I isolate away from others, and struggle through pregnancy and postpartum alone, or seek the support of others even if it means an increased risk of catching a deadly virus? READ MORE Michigan health officials said late last week that 54% of residents age 16 and older have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. This 2.5% increase reported by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services includes vaccinations administered to residents both in-state and out-of-state. Nearly 227,000 residents were added to the total count, putting Michigan near the first benchmark for reopening. Under the Vacc to Normal plan, two weeks after 55% of residents have received their first dose, the state will allow in-person work. MORE Sprouting from six cubes of rockwool, the babies flutter in the warm wind of an incubation room beneath toasty lights in a Bay City marijuana grow facility. Hopefully, for the sake of the strain, one of them is female, says their excited tender. Then he can clone them. For many, especially in Michigan’s Bay County and among marijuana elders, it’s been decades since they’ve heard the name: Pinconning Paralyzer. “Everybody always knows somebody that knows somebody that knows somebody that grew it,” said Sarah Myer, an employee of Essence Provisioning. “It’s kind of a thing of legend around here.” MORE Minnesota chemical manufacturing giant 3M has sued the state of Michigan, claiming the state’s new drinking water limits for the toxic “forever chemicals” known as PFAS are flawed because they were created through a “rushed and invalid regulatory process.” The lawsuit seeks to invalidate the state’s drinking water limits and groundwater cleanup criteria for seven different per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, that went into effect last summer. The state regulatory standards, known as Maximum Contaminant Limits, or MCLs, restrict the amount of PFAS allowed in public water supplies and require regular testing. MORE Licensed wildlife rehabilitators like Grand Valley Bottle Babies assist with the rush of calls the Michigan Department of Natural Resources gets each spring and summer from people who find animals in the wild, such as baby raccoons and possums. Most often babies are abandoned when the parent dies. Brandy and Raymond Hill started the organization three years ago when they took in raccoons found huddled in the engine compartment of a car suffering from burnt paws and malnutrition. “We seem to take on the things nobody else wants to take on," Raymond said. Catch a glimpse of their work here: WATCH Get your local news 24/7 Connect with MLive To ensure receipt of our emails, please add newsletters@update.mlive to your address book or safe sender list. |