Kim Short waited in the doctor’s exam room on an icy day in February, exhausted from the first trimester of pregnancy and trembling in withdrawal from methamphetamine, alcohol, Xanax and Klonopin.
She stared at the floor, her black hair curtaining face tattoos of a dagger and stitches, memorials to friends dead from overdose. Inky wings of eyeliner rimmed her eyes.
This was Kim’s second pregnancy with the Great Moms clinic at the Corewell Health Medical Center in Grand Rapids, Mich., one of the rare programs for a population of patients who are among the most reviled in society: pregnant women and new mothers who are addicted to drugs and alcohol.
Kim, 32, had first come to the clinic in the fall of 2022 and, in April 2023, gave birth to a healthy, drug-free boy. But within months she relapsed, and child protective services placed the baby in foster care. Her despair drove her further into addiction.
Now, pregnant again, she had returned to the one place she believed was her best shot at staying sober and raising this new baby.
Dr. Cara Poland walked into the exam room.
“I’m so thankful that you made your way back to us,” she said to Kim.
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