Sibley Hospital Recent Experience

[Anonymous]

I had two deliveries at Sibley, one completely uncomplicated (and unmedicated) at age 30 and one with induction for pre-eclampsia at age 35; no one ever suggested a C-section for either one. I suppose if the induction had not gone well they would have done a C-section but it wasn't mentioned in the 8 hours I was in labor.

[Anonymous]

My friend had a vaginal birth at sibley. The population a hospital serves will make a huge difference in their C-section rates. For example, beyond age if there is a more diverse population served in terms of income and insurance access c-section rates will typically be higher because often there will be more patients who didn’t receive prenatal care and have higher risk deliveries. So there can be a lot of factors, so make sure you’re looking at the full picture.

I agree with one of the other posters. In hindsight the best thing I could have done for my birth would have been to go in SUPER flexible and assuming medical providers are there with my best interests at heart (because truly, they really are. 99% of them are so most likely the ones you interact with will be). Don’t listen to instagram. It will lead to being unhappy rather than the happy birth you think it will because you will make false assumptions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My friend had a vaginal birth at sibley. The population a hospital serves will make a huge difference in their C-section rates. For example, beyond age if there is a more diverse population served in terms of income and insurance access c-section rates will typically be higher because often there will be more patients who didn’t receive prenatal care and have higher risk deliveries. So there can be a lot of factors, so make sure you’re looking at the full picture.

I agree with one of the other posters. In hindsight the best thing I could have done for my birth would have been to go in SUPER flexible and assuming medical providers are there with my best interests at heart (because truly, they really are. 99% of them are so most likely the ones you interact with will be). Don’t listen to instagram. It will lead to being unhappy rather than the happy birth you think it will because you will make false assumptions.

This is silly. People disagree about “best interest” all the time. A doctor who pushes a c-section without considering a mothers recovery believes they had the
mothers best interests at heart but may define those best interests differently than the patient does. That’s why the doctrine is “informed consent” not “believe all doctors all the time”.

[Anonymous]

I was 35.5 and 38.5 when I delivered there and I was never pushed into a C even after pushing for 3 hours!

[Anonymous]

3 deliveries at Sibley, unmedicated and vaginal - no one ever pushed a C-section, as others said, it's more so the risk tolerance of your provider. If you don't have complications, then you should be good for a vaginal birth. I do know GWU will tolerate longer births, heard women who have been there for 1-3 days "laboring" and we're pushed for a C-section, but I have also heard some scary stories there too where they were a bit too liberal with their decisions...

[Anonymous]

Dr. Malcolm DeSouza delivered my fourth and fifth baby. He did a great job and supported me during labor to ensure I had a natural delivery without any medication. I even got to lift my fifth baby out of me during the delivery with his guidance.

[Anonymous]

I had 2 babies with DeSouza at Sibley. My first in 2020 was a long labor (about 15 hours in the delivery room) and I never felt like he pressured a c-section. My second (6 months ago) was a faster labor (I was in the delivery room for nearly 8 hours, though) and he never mentioned a c-section. I think he’s an excellent physician and had never heard about his higher c-section rates!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Completely depends on the provider. Mine let me labor for as long as needed, and let me go almost 2 weeks past my due date at age 35 before requiring an induction. The induction was successful, and I was able to push, but at 10.5 lbs it eventually became clear that my baby was not going to even come close to making it out my vagina (I’m a relatively small woman). I did end up with a c-section, but not an emergency one, and only after trying every possible measure over 3+ days to make a vaginal birth happen. Very happy with the outcome, and for a very healthy baby (and mom!)

That's a big baby. Surprised they let you go 2 additional weeks knowing it was that size.

Same here. I had a large baby at Sibley and the vaginal birth was aborted pretty quickly once things werent progressing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:3 deliveries at Sibley, unmedicated and vaginal - no one ever pushed a C-section, as others said, it's more so the risk tolerance of your provider. If you don't have complications, then you should be good for a vaginal birth. I do know GWU will tolerate longer births, heard women who have been there for 1-3 days "laboring" and we're pushed for a C-section, but I have also heard some scary stories there too where they were a bit too liberal with their decisions...

Yea I was in active labor at gw for 18 hours with many hours if pushing with no progress until given pitocin- baby was sunny side up and stuck. A friend labored like 60 hours and wishes gw allowed c Section before 72 hrs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:3 deliveries at Sibley, unmedicated and vaginal - no one ever pushed a C-section, as others said, it's more so the risk tolerance of your provider. If you don't have complications, then you should be good for a vaginal birth. I do know GWU will tolerate longer births, heard women who have been there for 1-3 days "laboring" and we're pushed for a C-section, but I have also heard some scary stories there too where they were a bit too liberal with their decisions...

Yea I was in active labor at gw for 18 hours with many hours if pushing with no progress until given pitocin- baby was sunny side up and stuck. A friend labored like 60 hours and wishes gw allowed c Section before 72 hrs

That’s nuts - I didn’t realize GWU had a 72 hour policy? I guess that’s good if you really want to stick it out —- of course if really needed c sections would be offered before 72 hours.

[Anonymous]

Op, your mindset is setting yourself up for failure. Birth is a medical event, and the outcome you want is a healthy mom and baby, not having a vaginal birth or avoiding a C section. The outcome you need to be focused
on is ensuring you bring baby into the world safely and not permanently injuring or disabling yourself in the process so your body, reproductive organs, pelvic floor, and ability to urinate and defecate don’t get permanently damaged in the process (ask me how I know).

While the mode of delivery seems so important during pregnancy, it’s really, really not in hindsight. Having a vaginal birth means nothing if your baby is harmed during it. Don’t ever forget that. You can’t control how the baby is delivered, no matter what your natural childbirth books say. And even if you do everything “right” you may still end up with a complicated delivery and the “cascade of interventions” that are often demonized, but frankly should be celebrated because we are lucky to live in a time where women and babies don’t routinely die in childbirth and we have medical interventions that can help avoid horrible outcomes.

I had my first at GW years ago because I was very focused on having a natural childbirth. I got that, and whole lot of permanent pelvic floor injuries because of their poor management of my delivery and failure to convert to a C section in an appropriate, timely way. The nurses were horrible, the hospital was awful, and the teaching hospital aspect made my difficult birth grotesquely fascinating and exciting to the troop of residents and students, who watched with excitement while I was screaming through contractions, was terrified my baby had died, and was feeling like I was dying, too. It was horrible, an experience I would never wish on anyone and the outcomes of which I live with each and every day and relive on my child’s birthday, which I remember with primarily trauma
and not happiness. For my second, I opted for a scheduled C section at Sibley with De Souza to avoid making any of my problems worse and because I could never go back to GW. He did a great job, the hospital was fantastic, no residents or students - only professional medical staff, and I remember that birth fondly and with a lot of happiness, unlike my first, which was horrifically painful and traumatic. I was treated so well by all the providers at Sibley, and felt well cared for and supported - in many ways the opposite of GW.

Try and remember that your health (mental and physical) and the health of your child and their survival are at stake during birth, and don’t be so focused on the delivery mode that you lose sight of that. And for what it’s worth, I know many moms who delivered vaginally at Sibley.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had 2 babies with DeSouza at Sibley. My first in 2020 was a long labor (about 15 hours in the delivery room) and I never felt like he pressured a c-section. My second (6 months ago) was a faster labor (I was in the delivery room for nearly 8 hours, though) and he never mentioned a c-section. I think he’s an excellent physician and had never heard about his higher c-section rates!

He's excellent and also known for being really great at c sections. Some people (me) seek him out specifically for that so I wouldn't be surprised his rates are high. Take them with a grain of salt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My friend had a vaginal birth at sibley. The population a hospital serves will make a huge difference in their C-section rates. For example, beyond age if there is a more diverse population served in terms of income and insurance access c-section rates will typically be higher because often there will be more patients who didn’t receive prenatal care and have higher risk deliveries. So there can be a lot of factors, so make sure you’re looking at the full picture.

I agree with one of the other posters. In hindsight the best thing I could have done for my birth would have been to go in SUPER flexible and assuming medical providers are there with my best interests at heart (because truly, they really are. 99% of them are so most likely the ones you interact with will be). Don’t listen to instagram. It will lead to being unhappy rather than the happy birth you think it will because you will make false assumptions.

This is silly. People disagree about “best interest” all the time. A doctor who pushes a c-section without considering a mothers recovery believes they had the
mothers best interests at heart but may define those best interests differently than the patient does. That’s why the doctrine is “informed consent” not “believe all doctors all the time”.

As someone who recovered from a bad vaginal birth that caused anal incontinence for 12 months, a fractured tailbone, levator ani avulsion, internal vaginal side wall tears, (sulcus/sulcal tears) and a grade 2 perineal tear as well as a bladder and rectal prolapse and chronic pelvic pain, I can tell you that it took 2 years of pelvic PT for me just to be able to function, sit, and walk without pain. Meanwhile, my scheduled c section was a far easier recovery, and I was back to walking with comfort and ease in a few months.

I wish informed consent included educating moms about the risks of vaginal birth. I believed that vaginal birth recovery would be easier than a scheduled C section and I was dead wrong.

And for those of you who say you don’t know anyone who this happened to
Or that this type of outcome is rare, it’s not. Very few people in my life have any idea the personal hell I survived after giving birth, and I can tell you that most women are so devastated, humiliated, and embarrassed about it that we suffer the consequences in silence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:3 deliveries at Sibley, unmedicated and vaginal - no one ever pushed a C-section, as others said, it's more so the risk tolerance of your provider. If you don't have complications, then you should be good for a vaginal birth. I do know GWU will tolerate longer births, heard women who have been there for 1-3 days "laboring" and we're pushed for a C-section, but I have also heard some scary stories there too where they were a bit too liberal with their decisions...

Yea I was in active labor at gw for 18 hours with many hours if pushing with no progress until given pitocin- baby was sunny side up and stuck. A friend labored like 60 hours and wishes gw allowed c Section before 72 hrs

Wow, and the babies vitals didn't change at all? Amazing the baby wasn't tired after all that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My friend had a vaginal birth at sibley. The population a hospital serves will make a huge difference in their C-section rates. For example, beyond age if there is a more diverse population served in terms of income and insurance access c-section rates will typically be higher because often there will be more patients who didn’t receive prenatal care and have higher risk deliveries. So there can be a lot of factors, so make sure you’re looking at the full picture.

I agree with one of the other posters. In hindsight the best thing I could have done for my birth would have been to go in SUPER flexible and assuming medical providers are there with my best interests at heart (because truly, they really are. 99% of them are so most likely the ones you interact with will be). Don’t listen to instagram. It will lead to being unhappy rather than the happy birth you think it will because you will make false assumptions.

This is silly. People disagree about “best interest” all the time. A doctor who pushes a c-section without considering a mothers recovery believes they had the
mothers best interests at heart but may define those best interests differently than the patient does. That’s why the doctrine is “informed consent” not “believe all doctors all the time”.

As someone who recovered from a bad vaginal birth that caused anal incontinence for 12 months, a fractured tailbone, levator ani avulsion, internal vaginal side wall tears, (sulcus/sulcal tears) and a grade 2 perineal tear as well as a bladder and rectal prolapse and chronic pelvic pain, I can tell you that it took 2 years of pelvic PT for me just to be able to function, sit, and walk without pain. Meanwhile, my scheduled c section was a far easier recovery, and I was back to walking with comfort and ease in a few months.

I wish informed consent included educating moms about the risks of vaginal birth. I believed that vaginal birth recovery would be easier than a scheduled C section and I was dead wrong.

And for those of you who say you don’t know anyone who this happened to
Or that this type of outcome is rare, it’s not. Very few people in my life have any idea the personal hell I survived after giving birth, and I can tell you that most women are so devastated, humiliated, and embarrassed about it that we suffer the consequences in silence.

I'm so sorry. I had an elective c section so dont have personal experience but my friend had a birth similar to yours. She got the vaginal (with vacuum and forceps...) she wanted so badly but was destroyed by it and wishes she had been more flexible and listened to the doctor’s recommendation. Her next 2 were scheduled c sections and it basically blew her mind how "civilized" the births were and how easy the recoveries went. She was violently anti c section and is now like, "don't listen to that bullshit, I LOVED mine. A+++ highly recommend!"