Dr. Joan Tei Sasaki

I could write paragraphs, and even though I am tempted to, I will just say that her bedside manner is so short and dismissive and unpredictable that I don't know how most of her patient base is not searching for another doctor. I am a strong woman who felt tears coming on in my most recent appointment with her. Switched OBGYNs today and do not want any woman to ever feel as patronized as this doctor will make you feel at some point in your journey with her.

When I go to her office, I am treated with respect and dignity. She listens and pays attention to details. Dr. Sasaki can be funny too...without even trying! Her nurses and receptionist are kind, respectful and deliver their duties in a highly professional manner. Yes, I highly recommend Dr. Sasaki.

She is good at what she does but nearly always grumpy. Never called with lab results - I had to get them at my next appointments. Generally unsupportive of my desire for a natural birth even though I'd had a successful one with our first child. Long waits even though I always came five minutes early and had my toddler son in tow. Sometimes an hour, even though the office was empty. Staff was friendly and kind. Dr. Sasako never spent an extra minute answering questions. At 25 weeks I asked if she could tell how the baby was positioned and she said, "I have no idea." A quick belly feel could have told her, she just didn't care enough to check. Stayed with her for my first 28 weeks and then switched to a midwife in Irvine. I would not want her as my doctor at a birth.

Dr. Sasaki is a very competent doctor. I trust her abilities and skills completely. However, her behavior is unpredictable. More times than not, she seems stressed out: she has even yelled at me when I asked for clarification on an issue. Also, I always have to wait quite a while in both the waiting room and examination room even when there aren't any other patients in the office. Expect a 15-20 minute wait in the waiting room and another 20-30 minutes in the exam room before you see her. Bring reading material or something to entertain yourself because you will have to wait....ALWAYS. Her staff is restrained/quiet; not the greeting type. I get the feeling that they have adapted to a dysfunctional environment; i.e., walking on eggshells. I've been thinking about going to another OB-GYN but she is competent and a nicer one might not be as thorough.

Dr. Sasaki made me get a version two weeks before my son was due. I had no problems prior to the version. Afterward I was in extreme pain ALWAYS. She decided to induce. TWO days of labor later (without epidurals that actually worked), she decided I required a C-section (just WHY did I require that version if we only resorted to a C-section anyway?). I BEGGED her to knock me out for it, she declined. I asked if the epidural she was now requesting for the surgery would work, she assured me it would. It DID NOT WORK. Delivering my son, I felt EVERY CUT of the surgery, I felt the VACUUM she had to use to detach my son from me (probably due to the bleeding from the version she insisted upon). It was like battlefield surgery, and as a result, I did not bond with my son for a very long time. I had nightmares about the delivery for YEARS. I still cannot bear to watch labor and delivery scenes on TV, let alone in person, and I never got pregnant again, even though we had initially wanted… another baby. I would not see this doctor again if all the others were dead.

very caring, bit of a wait but worth it. took time to explain everything to me and I had alot of questions!

I have been with Dr. Sasaki for over 10 yrs. She is the greatest. I was with her when she had her Laguna Beach office. I discovered I was very low in Vitamin D because of her concern over my bone density test. I am lucky to have found a great OB/GYN!

Dr. Sasaki kept a very close eye on me during my pregnancy because of the complications I had with my previous pregnancy. She is the best! Thanks to her I have a healthy baby girl. I did have to wait 20-30 minutes sometimes, but she is worth it.

Dr. Sasaki's staff was late back from lunch and unapologetic about it. Dr. Sasaki's bedside manner was nothing noteworthy. My pap results showed up in the mail over 3 months later. Not impressed with this practice.