looking for moms who have been delivered by Dr. Malcolm De Souza

[Anonymous]

So i've read countless positive things about dr. De Souza on this board. I'm wondering if any moms on here have delivered with him, and if so, can comment on an actual delivery. I've already asked him the appropriate questions about natural childbirth and feel he will support, but I was wondering if any moms could tell me how their deliveries went. I've been warned by others not to get too optimistic about what a doctor says, that it's more important to find out how his / her actual deliveries go.

Hoping mom's who have experienced birth with him will confirm:

a. he is not into "routine" episiotomies
b. he doesn't push pitocin or breaking water / membranes unless medically necessary for my or baby's best health
c. he will support side lying, squatting bar, or hands and knees labor (Definitely don't want to be on back with feet in stirrups!)
d. he will support me in quest to have intermittent electronic fetal monitoring instead of constant (I want to move around freely during most stages of labor)
e. he is pleased when mom has birth plan (understanding that my birth plan is not going to read like a list of hostage situation demands but rather some stated preferences for a "normal" delivery)

Thank you so much for any info.

[Anonymous]

OP here, one thing I should mention is that a - e all assume a "normal" labor. I already trust him absolutely on when to make a c-section call and if he said, for instance, there was a reason to worry about fetal distress, I'd gladly submit to continuous EFM, etc.

[Anonymous]

Dr. DeSouza delievered me. I was not very interested in a medication-free birth, but wanted a doctor who would respect my wishes which is why I went with him. While I can't speak to all of your concerns, I think my experience will tell you a little about the kind of doctor he is.

1) When I told him that I was not interested in a medication-free birth, he asked me to tell him why. He took the time to go through with me the positives and negatives of medication. I think he felt I was too quick to discount a natural birth and wanted to make sure I was making an informed choice.

2) Did not have an episiotomy.

3) I went to the hospital as soon as my water broke because there was meconium in the fluid, but I was barely contracting. When I first arrived Dr. DeSouza was not yet back on and was being covered by Dr. Footer (who I also liked, but had a different philosophy). After about 7 hours of absolutely no change and really no contractions, Dr. Footer suggested trying some pitocin. I agreed. Around this time, Dr. DeSouza arrived and felt it would be better to wait a few more hours. Since I had been treated by Dr. Desouza and trusted him, I decided to follow his advice. So the bottom line is that in my experience, far from pushing pitocin, Dr. DeSouza actually discouraged it. In the end, after several more hours of no change and a need to get the baby out of the meconium stained fluid, I did receive pitocin.

4) I was hooked to a fetal monitor the whole time, but I never asked not to be. I think Sibley is pretty strict on the fetal monitor issue.

5) Gave birth on my back but again, I had an epidural. My legs were held by people. No stirrups.

5) We discussed my preferences for the birth but I did not write a birth plan.

Obviously my birth experience was different from the one you would like to have, partially because of circumstances, but mainly because I wanted something different. However, like I said, aspects of my experience demostrate Dr. DeSouza's commitment to natural birth when possible. I thought he was outstanding for my needs.

[cassiea]

PP - I am newly expecting and just signed up with Dr. Footer as a patient but was trying to decide between the two. You say that they have different philosophies....can you give a quick rundown of how they were different?

[Anonymous]

14:55, that's exactly the kind of information I wanted to hear. I'm not necessarily looking for an epidural, but I haven't ruled it out. I want to try natural and see how far along I can get with it. If I'm hooked to an EFM, though, I don't know if it will be likely. I think the more mom can walk around and get comfy, the better it is on that. It was my understanding that no hospital can really force a treatment you don't accept, including the EFM. I'm willing to tick the nurses off (but will try diplomacy first of course!) in order to advocate for my ability to move around. I think I have heard of other women successfully getting 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off EFM. That is about what I want.

[Anonymous]

I recently gave birth at Sibley with Dr. De Souza. I was originally with Reiter and Hill but changed to De. Souza at about 29 weeks as I was not happy with R&H style. De. Souza and I discussed natural birth at my weekly appointments - he was aware I only wanted epidural if absolutely necessary, no pitocin, and no episiotomy. I found him to provide very reasonable and sensitive advice about what I wanted and he agreed to try and facilitate all of these goals. My labor ended up being almost 48 hours long. I had spent much time on this site reading about Sibley and natural birth and I only have positive comments about the service I received at Sibley. I went through 4 nurse shifts - they were all wonderful and supportive and helped me (and my husband) enormously. I think I was assigned nurses that were interested in natural birth patients and no-one tried to push interventions, in fact quite the opposite. They were incredibly patient and gave massages and lots of verbal support. I spent about 12 hours just walking around the L&D room (only monitored once an hour) and showering for 15 minutes every hour. De. Souza was very calm and offered different options during the entire process - after about 24 hours I was only dilated 5 cm and my water had not yet broken. At this stage we all agreed it was time to have an epidural (and not pitocin). When eventually the pushing stage came, De. Souza encouraged me to labor in different positions (incl. using the bar). Ultimately I had an emergency c-section but this was after all other options were exhausted and it was clear to all of us the baby was not coming out. The baby had to go into special care nursery immediately following birth so I was pleased that we decided to have the c-section when we did. I think you will be pleased you chose De. Souza and that you can be sure he will try and follow your birth plan as closely as possible during the birth. Good luck to you!

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much for taking the time to come back to this post and answer my question after your birth. When I saw this post pop up again I opened it without even realizing it was a response to my query last month -- I forgot I had asked. Your feedback strengthens my confidence that I've picked a fantastic doctor. We've had a few more appointments with him since I asked that question and my husband and I both really like and trust him.

I hope you've recovered from your birth and are enjoying your baby. You mentioned the special care nursery -- I'm hoping everything is okay!? Good luck to you also and thanks again.

[Anonymous]

Hi Doctor DeSouza delivered my second child by c-section - I know this isn't what you asked but I find him to be a an exceptional doctor who gives me the impression of really caring about his patients and what they think. I was hoping to have my daughter vaginally (first child was a breach baby and a c-section) and he was very supportive of this but as the time got closer, my daughter got bigger, she kept flipping around , breach at least once, and I got scared, he then supported my instincts to have a c-section. He acknowledged afterwards that I made the right choice. He reminds me of the type of family doctors I grew up with in England - he listens and wants to know what's going on even if it has nothing to do with the pregnancy. He doesn't rush you around -I highly recommend him as would my husband.

Diane McCabe Smith

[Anonymous]

hi there. I posted at length before about my actual delivery with dr. Desouza. If you google "wonderful natural childbirth at sibley with dr. desouza" (or some variation of that theme) my post will come up. I talked about my labor in detail.

Suffice it to say, I HIGHLY recommend Dr. DeSouza. He's the best doctor I have ever had. I had a natural childbirth, he was aces about everything I needed.

But here are the answers to your Q's specifically:

a. he is not into "routine" episiotomies

No episiotomy here. Baby's heartrate did drop at one point and he said he thought if I didn't push baby out on the next try we should consider it, but I took that as motivation to push baby out myself with the next push.

b. he doesn't push pitocin or breaking water / membranes unless medically necessary for my or baby's best health

Nope! My water broke in the morning and he said that we wouldn't even start to discuss augmentation (pitocin) until 12 hours at lapsed, and even then it would depend on how things were progressing and it would be based on a discussion. Ended up not needing that, since a few hours later my baby was born. I also declined pitocin after the birth and he was fine with it, based on my delivery, examination of my placenta, and my willingness to do uterine massage.

c. he will support side lying, squatting bar, or hands and knees labor (Definitely don't want to be on back with feet in stirrups!)

Far from asking me to be in stirrups, he told me he'd catch the baby wherever and however I wanted to push it out. I pushed baby out while standing and leaning against the bed.

d. he will support me in quest to have intermittent electronic fetal monitoring instead of constant (I want to move around freely during most stages of labor)

Yep! His standing orders are 20 minutes per hour, which was not bad at all for me.

e. he is pleased when mom has birth plan (understanding that my birth plan is not going to read like a list of hostage situation demands but rather some stated preferences for a "normal" delivery)

He encouraged me to write a birth plan.

Things you didn't ask, but might be relevant:

He does internal exams for dilation / efacement towards end of pregnancy only upon your request (unless health demands otherwise)
He does not believe in inducing baby based on ultrasound estimate of size
He is comfortable (provided your pregnancy remains healthy) with letting you go "past due" (my baby was a week late)
He is your advocate if you have issues with nurses (made one of Sibley's crankier nurses redo my saline lock IV b/c I found it uncomfortable)
He encourages women to consider hiring a doula (we did not, but I think it say somethig tht he's open to that)
He told me he genuinely believes that almost any woman who wants to have a natural childbirth CAN.

Also, if you'd like to ask questions of a real person about his delivery style, etc, please feel free to email me at famst7 at gmail. I don't check that email more than once a week or so, so apologies if you do write and it takes a bit of time to hear back.

GOOD LUCK!

[Anonymous]

LOVE Dr DeSouza......switched to his practice from one in NJ when I was about 6 months along. He was super in the delivery room. We found out shortly after delivery that our baby had Down syndrome and he was one of the most compassionate Dr's we encountered during the first few traumatic days. Hope to have another baby with him soon!!

[Anonymous]

Hi, I have another question: how about DeSouza and VBACs? Was he supportive on all those points that were mentioned earlier that would be considered as creating a VBAC-friendly environment such as intermittent fetal monitoring, allowing you to got beyond past due date (not just a few days), how about relative big babies in those circumstances, water breaking with VBAC and laboring home?
Surely do not want to hijack the post, but I would really like to know from other people...

[Anonymous]

I know this is an old post, but I want to join the chorus of cheers for Dr. DeSouza. He delivered my daughter in 2007 and was an amazing source of guidance and support throughout the pregnancy and in the delivery room. I have nothing but praise for him. In fact, my husband even says he wishes Dr. DeSouza could be HIS doctor. (ha ha). He is definitely the best OB/GYN doctor I have ever had.

[Anonymous]

I am so excited to switch to him from the factory OB place I go to now. Does anyone know his fax number? I have to get my medical records switched over ASAP.

[Anonymous]

This post is three years old. Would the DeSouuza office staff get off DCUM, please?

[Anonymous]

Oh brother. Not the person who renewed this thread, but I'm another satisfied desouza patient. (and not staff, LOL). Seems clear that one new desouza patient is bringing up old threads. Which, interestingly enough, is what you all would tell her to do if she had started a new thread.

"use the search feature, this has already been discussed."