Weeks after her miscarriage was confirmed, Christina Zielke started bleeding heavily while on a trip out of town. At an ER in Ohio, she was given tests but no treatment, and discharged soon after, still bleeding. She says she was told the hospital needed proof there was no fetal development. Meredith Rizzo/NPR

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Her miscarriage left her bleeding profusely. An Ohio ER sent her home to wait

Weeks after her miscarriage was confirmed, Christina Zielke started bleeding heavily while on a trip out of town. At an ER in Ohio, she was given tests but no treatment, and discharged soon after, still bleeding. She says she was told the hospital needed proof there was no fetal development. Meredith Rizzo/NPR
NPR

Her miscarriage left her bleeding profusely. An Ohio ER sent her home to wait

Synopsis

Christiana Zielke, a D.C. resident, began bleeding profusely from a miscarriage while on a road trip through Painesville, Ohio with her husband. Despite urgently needing an abortion, the staff at a local hospital refused to treat her. Hours later, Christiana’s condition deteriorated, and in her words, she felt “the world slip away.” It was only after being rushed back to the same hospital — in an ambulance, unconscious — that she received the medical care she needed.

Even though Christina lives in D.C., a place with strong abortion protections, she was still denied care when she had a medical emergency in a state with an abortion ban. Afterwards, she filed a complaint against the hospital and shared her story with NPR’s Selena Simmons-Duffin, illustrating the trauma of being refused emergency care.

Story By
Selena Simmons-Duffin | NPR
Photography By
Meredith Rizzo
Related Tags Ohio Washington, D.C. Abortion seekers and patients Care denied Miscarriage treatment
I didn’t make it back through the door again until there was blood running down into my shoes.
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