Sage-Femme Midwifery, PLLC

Sage-femme Midwifery is a partnership of midwives, Kelly McDermott MS LM, and  Carrie Gordon -Stacey SNM,who provide compassionate, holistic women's care throughout the life cycle.

 In addition to fullscope independent midwifery, Sage-femme provides space for nurturing mothers, babies, and families and hopes to be a proverbial village for healthfully birthing and raising children. Sage-femme midwifery offers: breastfeeding, childbirth, and parenting classes, a new mother's support group, chiropractic days, referral and coordination of care with a multidisciplinary team of birth professionals, and meeting space for workshops/informationals/gatherings of interest/benefit to families.

Unique to the homebirth community, Sage-femme offers both homebirth care as well as hospital-based midwifery.  In addition, our privileges at the Burdett Care Center in Troy NY, ensure that, should a planned homebirth require transfer to a hospital setting at anytime during pregnancy or birth, Sage-femme midwives are able  to provide continuity of care in that setting thereby avoiding a transfer to a different maternity practice. Free consultations to explore the option of midwifery in the home or hospital setting provided. . Tours of the birthing center are available by calling 271-3393.

About the Midwives:

Kelly McDermott, Founder and Director of Sage-femme Midwifery, was called to midwifery as a ministry and vocation by the birth of her first child at home in 1984. Like many midwives, her relationship with birth has been long and varied. She has been privileged to serve as a direct-entry midwife, a Certified Professional Midwife, a labor and delivery nurse, and as a Masters prepared Certified Nurse Midwife. All 6 of her children were born at home. Her return to homebirth is a celebration and a rekindling of her commitment to women and birth.

Carrie Gordon-Stacey, RN, Student Midwife and Birth Assistant, likes things that grow – like bellies and babies. She is a registered nurse and also a midwifery student at Frontier School of Midwifery & Family Nursing. Carrie has two children and lives on a small farm in Selkirk where her husband grows fruits, vegetables, pigs and a menagerie of other animals. Carrie likes swimming, hiking, yoga, good books and knitting. Carrie feels her previously work as an AmeriCorps volunteer, coordinator for local Community Gardens, organic farmer (not just at her farm), a postpartum doula and a preschool teacher has all helped prepare her well for assisting Kelly at Sage-Femme Midwifery.

Sage-femme Midwifery affiliates with local midwifery service, HeartSpace Midwifery, when we anticipate the need for an expanded birthing team.  

Maureen Murphy, CPM ( Certified Professional Midwife), is the mother of two amazing teens, both born at home into the hands of midwives. She has been attending births at home and in the hospital since 2001. She is a Certified Professional Midwife and a Vermont Licensed Midwife.

Heidi Ricks, Certified Midwife, Certified Professional Midwife, Licensed Midwife, is the mother of three fantastic children, Kaleigh, Cerid and Lochlan. Her passion for birth work began shortly after her daughter’s birth when she had the privilege of attending the birth of a friend. She has been working with women and families since 1994 and continues to be humbled and amazed and honored to be present at the birth of each child whose birth she attends.

 

Free Cancer Screening through Sage- Femme!!!

Sage-femme Midwifery is excited to announce that we are now a participating provider with the Albany County Cancer Screening Services Program and can provide Free Cancer Screenings!!!!

Women and men with little or no health insurance are eligible for free cancer screenings through the Cancer Services Program (formerly known as the Healthy Living Partnership). The program offers free breast, cervical and colorectal screenings, as well as prostate education.

Women who are uninsured and 40 years of age or older can receive a free breast exam, pap smear/pelvic exam and mammogram through Sage-femme Midwifery.

Men and women over age 50 are eligible for colorectal cancer screening with a FIT kit (fecal immunochemical kit). A free colonoscopy is available if they have a family history of colon cancer, polyps, Crohn's disease, inflammatory bowel disease or colitis.
Screenings may be done at an earlier age if there is a family history of breast or colorectal cancer.
If further treatment is needed and the patient meets income and other criteria, treatment for their cancer will be paid by the Cancer Services Program.
Please pass the word about this valuable program and call the office if you'd like to schedule an appointment, 813 9290.

 

 

 

 

 

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Kelly is a wonderful and very experienced midwife. She was my midwife for the birth of my son, Philip and was assisted by Carrie, who is also great. Kelly is not just extremely experienced, competent and knowledgeable, but she's a kind and caring woman as well. The perfect midwife! I am so grateful for everything she did for me while I was pregnant with Philip, during the birth and the postpartum period. I *highly* recommend her. You can't go wrong with choosing Kelly as your midwife. I hope to be able to have her as my midwife for any future children God gives us.

We LOVE Kelly and her team!! We had a beautiful home birth assisted by Kelly. My husband and I are 100% satisfied with our experience with Sage-Femme. Midwives are amazing!! Always there for you with their time and hearts. We were thrilled to have the birth we wanted! Thank you Sage-Femme!

Kelly and Carrie are the greatest duo to have accompany you during your experience! They make you feel at ease and are there supporting you along your journey from pregnacy to motherhood and beyond. Very knowledgeable about everything baby. I had the honor of doing a homebirth with these two. My son did not breathe for the first 2 mins, Kelly and Carrie did not hesitate, they jumped right into action with all the necessary utensils. Ultimately he responded to Kelly just puffing some of her own breathe right into him. I cannot say enough about how amazing and wonderful this experience was. Thank you Sage-Femme!

Kelly and her team are truly the best. We had a wonderful experience preparing for our home birth under Kelly's care. I couldn't recommend anyone more highly for pregnancy, birth or women's health in general.

It's difficult to put into words how much Sage-Femme has meant to my family, specifically the Director, Kelly McDermott. Kelly and this practice have completely raised our "bar" of expectations of what quality, personal health care should be. My wife was the first to meet and develop a relationship with Kelly, and I immediately observed how connected and at-ease she was with her. Later, I was afforded the opportunity to meet her and to be introduced to the whole idea of home-birth. Jump forward a couple years and my wife and I are now parents to not one, but TWO healthy and beautiful children. All thanks to Kelly! Choosing home-birth was truly one of the easiest choices for us, but only because of the provider. If Kelly and her staff were not around, I'm not sure that we would have chose this option. Kelly cares deeply for her patients, and dedicates significant amounts of her time, energy and emotions making sure that they and their baby are healthy and progressing properly. Thank you Kelly (and Carrie too) for all that you have done for my family and I. You are forever etched into our family tree, and we are blessed to not only call you our midwife, but our friend.

I recommend Kelly and Sage Femme to anyone I know who is pregnant or just needs good, compassionate, thorough care for women's issues. She is super knowledgeable, makes herself available to her women, listens, and seeks to work with me to find solutions that fit my body and needs. She not only cares about me but about my entire family. The compassion and empathy I receive from her (and all who work with her!) far surpasses any other health care professional I have ever seen. She cared for me during my 2nd pregnancy and cared for and delivered my 3rd baby. Appointments are never rushed and my other children were welcome to attend appointments, play with the toys, and help with listening to the babys heartbeat and taking mommy's blood pressure. She includes the whole family. My birth experience with her was amazing, she was with me every minute of my labor and assured me that I could do it! She knew before I did that I was close to having my baby and walked with me though it all! She believes in her women and in the birth process - she knows women are strong and that comes through in her care. She cares beyond just birth though. She fights and advocates for her moms and their babies! I trust her completely!

A highly experienced, nurturing, knowledgeable, and passionate midwifery practice - you can trust Kelly and her team. They will provide you with empowering care, respect, wisdom and attention. After just losing my mother in a hospital/ having my first pregnancy end in miscarriage in the hospital setting, and always feeling inferior/rushed/sterile and unknown in doctor's offices, I was fortunate to be able to have a home birth with someone I felt actually took the time to know me, answer my many questions without judgement, and cared about me and my baby. And with Carri just knowing exactly what to do and say to get me to finally push my baby into this world- I don't know how I would have done it without her too! Kelly and Carri's care has meant everything to me and my husband and we feel so fortunate to have them currently for our second pregnancy as well. Kelly will go the extra mile in supporting her women and their families (even talking with my sisters who are doctors and were non supportive of my homebirth choice), and will work with your specific needs - financial, emotional, educational, physical. A rare find in today's world - care above and beyond what I wanted and needed. We feel so blessed to be in Sage-Femme Midwifery's care and trust them with the most important thing to us-the safe and peaceful birth and nurturing of our family.

I was privileged enough to have Kelly for my 9th baby. I had to have a c-section but I had all my visits with Kelly and she was with me in the delivery room. I have worked with other midwives and doctors in the past but none of them were as good with care and my baby's care as Kelly. I thought I was an experienced Mom delivery number 9. I have to say Kelly had way more experience than I and could even anticipate my needs before I even knew I had a need. My hats off to Kelly and her work! Thank You.

I cannot speak highly enough of Kelly. I went looking for a midwife for my second pregnancy and found so much more than that. I knew the day I experienced a miscarriage that I was in the hands of an amazing person. I had only known her for a little over a week and she sat with me the entire time at the hospital as I endured the pain of losing my baby. She worked with me as I got pregnant again and taught me and showed me that I was truly in control of my body and my baby the entire time. I had never felt so empowered or trusted a medical professional as much as I did her. She took her time at all of my appointments and was there for a most amazing water birth. When number three came, Kelly was one of the first people I called. Again, my experience was amazing. I am so thrilled to find out now that I can turn to her for my general health and womanly care without dealing with insurance mumbo jumbo! THANK YOU, Kelly for being such an invaluable and amazing resource to our community!

Kelly attended the birth of my fifth baby, which was also my first home birth. I felt immediately at ease from my very first consultation. She struck me as a practitioner who cares deeply for women and wants them to have the safest, most comfortable and positive birth experience possible, regardless of what that experience might be for that mother. I was impressed by her knowledge and experience and always felt myself to be in good hands, I received much more comprehensive prenatal care with this birth and was counseled in areas of nutrition, rest, exercise, supplements, and mental and emotional well-being to a greater extent than with any of my previous births. Carrie was equally wonderful. I cannot say enough good things about Sage-Femme and I recommend this practice to my friends often.

Maureen and Heidi are two of the most compassionate, tender, loving, intelligent, competent practitioners I have ever come across. Having the two of them at our birth was like being attended by wise sisters or a best friend. Our trust in them is complete and our faith in their judgement total. I felt completely safe and cared for during my entire pregnancy and birth. Their respect for women and families means that they do not make decisions for the woman (as many OB practices do) but provide clients with ample information so that a woman and her partner can make the best decisions for their family. They have great relationships with many local practitioners ranging from physical therapists and chiropractors who specialize in pregnancy to high risk doctors with specialized knowledge for women who "risk out" of their practice. You absolutely cannot go wrong with these women. Their degree of respect, kindness, and professionalism represents a standard of care to which more practitioners should aspire.

Kelly McDermott assisted with the births of both of my children. She is an very experienced midwife and made me feel extremely comfortable. If you want to have a homebirth or a hospital birth, Kelly & Sage-Femme can provide you with the services you want/need and prepare you for a great experience. She is knowledgeable of the local birthing network and can direct her clients to complementary services (chiro, education, physical therapy, herbals, etc). The BEST of the BEST!

For excellent care and a loving heart, go see these midwives!! Cannot imagine having to birth a baby with them.....very knowledgeable, passionate, and caring.

Deciding to go to Sage-Femme Midwifery for OB/GYN care is probably the best health decision I've made. Kelly is an amazing midwife. She offers compassionate, professional support. She is well versed in recent medical advancements and research, provides care of her patients' whole well-being and does it all with a patient, non-judgemental view. Her bedside manner is warm and mothering. Her experience is varied and vast. Her knowledge of a woman's body and needs is great. I have recommended her to many friends and family members. All who have chosen to go to her have loved her. She has helped me with pregnancy and routine care. If you are looking for someone who knows women, knows the most current information, respects a woman's right to make her own choices about her birth experience and does it all in a nurturing environment, then go to Sage-Femme.

Kelly McDermott provides services that every OB practice should be providing- Women and baby centered care- treating people with respect, gentleness and dignity. Sage Femme makes informed decisions a number one priority- it is not about where or how to give birth, but rather what is the best situation for you, and your family. They provide individualized care tailored to your needs and wishes. Kelly is not just a midwife, she is a friend, inspiration and hero. She is on the frontlines of protecting women in how they choose to deliver, and empowers women by putting the control of their health care decisions back into their hands. At Sage Femme you are not a patient, you are a person.
Kelly and her team are highly competent, and very well trained and have experience in both the hospital and home settings. They draw from a wealth of knowledge and expertise.
I have learned a great deal from them and have been highly recommending them to everyone that I know! :)
Thank you Sage Femme for assisting me in the birth of my son.

I cannot say enough good things about my experience with Sage-Femme. At first I was concerned having a home birth and I had many questions and concerns. Anything that I inquired about was answered as well as any questions my partner and our families had. We were also encouraged to do our own research to find answers to what we wanted for our family and our baby. I had my baby at home over the summer and I will never birth another way. The women at Sage-Femme are some of the kindest, wise, and knowledgeable people I know. Instead of being told what to do, I was given choices and information to make my own decisions about my birth plan and what I wanted for myself and my baby. We were also provided access to other services like breastfeeding classes, support groups, books, and many others. They really took the time to get to know me and my family. I highly recommend these women to anyone that is pregnant or wants to have a baby. You will not be disappointed.

We have worked with Kelly, Heidi or Maureen for the births of our 5 children. They are wonderful women and extremely competent midwives. We have had beautiful birth experiences and we recommend these women!

I cannot praise Kelly & Carrie enough. Knowledgeable, competent, caring, always willing & able to fully answer my questions, and comfortable to be around. How often do you find yourself trying to stay LONGER at a doctor's office because it's so enjoyable? That was the case for me at Sage-Femme. I felt and appreciated that Kelly presumed that my pregnancy would be normal & uncomplicated; at the same time I had total confidence that she was alert for anything that needed checking out and would not hesitate to mention it. Wouldn't consider anyone else if I was pregnant again!

What a blessing it was to have Kelly and Carrie attending the birth of our son. Professional and caring, flexible and, well, amazing! Sage-Femme will be the first we call if another little one joins us. I would highly recommend any woman expecting or thinking about getting pregnant to get in touch with Kelly to talk about what an empowering and special experience a birth can be.

I cannot praise Kelly McDermott and the staff at Sage-Femme enough! Kelly is an incredibly wise, competent, empowering, mother hen of a midwife. I will certainly be birthing any future babies with her. From start of pregnancy through babe in arms and beyond, Kelly is the midwife in whom to place your trust.