I stumbled across Sharon and her Hypnobirthing class while searching online for natural birthing classes in Columbus. I knew I didn't want to take the typical Lamaze class, as I didn't want to have a medically assisted birth, if I could help it. My husband wasn't completely on board with the whole idea, but played along (since I was the one bearing our child, lol) and agreed to meet with Sharon to learn more about her services. Sharon did an absolutely wonderful job of communicating her services to myself and my husband. In fact, she won him over so much, he now advocates her services to all of his friends!

Sharon helped empower myself and my husband as first time expectant parents that we could indeed have the calm, peaceful birth we hoped for (with minimal medical intervention). My husband fed off of me having less anxiety throughout the pregnancy. I became more able to look ahead to our birth and was less caught up in the moment, which I feel helped me concentrate my energy not on our anxieties, but on staying healthy, calm and passing along my extra energy for growing our happy, healthy, sweetheart.

Not only did Sharon help affirm that we would be great, loving parents and that nature intends for us to be able to handle our own births, but she turned out to be our #1 information and contact resource throughout our birth planning. Through Sharon, we found our wonderful doula, (and then Montrice-now a licensed (registered?) midwife), Alison Diaz and our Nurse Midwife, Rebecca Wagner, through Women's Contemporary Health. We have found s lifetime friend in Sharon and our other birthing professionals. It's wonderful to find professionals who do what they do not because of the pay, but because they have genuine passion for what they do.

I am looking forward to our next birthing experience and fully intend on including Sharon and her many services offered in the experience!!
Monette Friedlander

The Hypnobirthing™ class my husband and I took with Sharon Gourlay during the pregnancy of our first child was a critical & necessary part of our journey to a healthy, peaceful & love filled birth free of interventions or any trauma & drama for all three of us. In addition, Sharon’s Affirmations to address our individual Fears around our first birth were next to brilliant and helped reframe what could have gotten in our way to be a positive source of empowerment personal to our needs. I highly recommend her and all she offers to all my friends and students. As a prenatal yoga teacher and someone versed in the necessity of the work Sharon does to help bring the next generation in peacefully and birth families gracefully she is helping to establish healthy bonds between Mothers, Fathers and Babies that are so necessary to the future our world. One can never practice the art of relaxation too much and I know the guided work she relayed became another tool in my toolbox of staying present, grounded and calm and continues to be so today. We are always in deep gratitude to her and her dedication to this path and support for our family and all families. Not to mention the leadership role she takes in the Birthworkers community in Columbus, Ohio.                                               
–Beth, Jay and Luna Gupta

My family and I are indebted to Sharon Gourlay and Sacred Beginning for the confidence, faith, and assurance in our abilities as a family she instilled in us as our Hypnobirthing instructor. Sharon came into our home and lives with such a gentle essence and loving spirit. My husband was especially skeptical, but supportive of my desire for a natural childbirth with our second pregnancy. After just one session with Sharon, he saw the real application of her techniques in not only childbirth, but child rearing and interpersonal communication. We never did see that natural birth due to complications, but using the techniques and tools Sharon taught us, our stress and worry were minimized during and after surgery. I still employ many of the techniques Sharon taught us when our toddlers, work, or just life in general, make it difficult to focus and de-stress. We believe wholeheartedly in Sharon’s vision that we have recommended our friends for her services in infertility and childbirth. I am honored to call Sharon my teacher, but blessed to call her a friend.
~Kelly Dillion


07/28/2010 User Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Sharon's services were invaluable to my husband and I for learning how to birth my first child. Her calm, soothing demeanor and vast knowledge about natural childbirth are a great resource for your questions about having your child peacefully and naturally. She has a true passion for teaching this method of childbirth. I highly recommend her over taking the hypnobirthing class through the hospital here in Columbus.
Ada Overstreet

Sharon Gourlay has been so helpful and willing to go the extra mile and in my case the extra miles.  She traveled almost two hours, three different times, in the winter, to teach us Hypnobirthing.  She was so helpful and made the end of my pregnancy so much easier.  She willing able to adapt her teaching styles to fit what we were comfortable with.  She was very understanding and not the least bit judgmental or pushy.  Even my midwife who had seen Hypnobirths was surprised at how easy my labor went and she commented on how beautiful our birth was. 
Sincerely,
Katrina Whipkey D.C.

Thanks you so much too. I will let you know when we are home and maybe you could stop by at meet Lucas, maybe you can bring the girls they would probably like to meet him too. I would love to meet them. I will write down my birth story for you when I get home and situated. It was an amazing birth and only took 5 hours like I wanted it too. It was very tolerable I don't know why I was so scared. I pushed him out because that was what my body was telling me to do but he still came out only with a little whimper he was very calm it was so Amazing how relaxed he was and how so ready he was to come meet mommy and daddy. I will talk to you soon.
Becca

Hi there Sharon!  I just wanted to let you know that we had our baby on Wednesday, Oct. 8th.  We had a a beautiful baby boy, 5 lbs, 8 oz.; 18 1/2 long.  Little guy!  Labor progressed very quickly and from start to finish it was only 4 hours!  I really feel that with my relaxation techniques and practice, it really helped me cope with the very intense contractions.  We even had to wait to breathe the baby down for about 15 minutes until the Midwife got there since it all happened so fast!  I just wanted to thank you for making the drive to Kenton to instruct us and give us the confidence that we could do it.  and we did!  I really think my only issue was that I didn't have my headphones right away (since we didn't know it was going to happen so quickly!) so I didn't go into the delivery in the relaxed state that I thought I would have. 

Anyway, Thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing your talent and your knowledge.  All the nurses were just amazed and I've even been asked to supply your name and email/phone to one of the nurses and a few friends that are expecting next year.  I really feel I have a great birthing story and it wouldn't have been possible without Hypnobirthing.

Take care and hope your new venture is going great!
Laura, Brad & Gustin Wingfield


Sharon Gourlay's services were a blessing for my family.  With her patience and flexibility, we were able to come to her home for a session in HypnoBirthing.  Without her help we would not have the opportunity to take the course.  She's kind and caring and still keeps in touch, which I very much appreciate.  And when I was suffering from post-partum depression after a traumatic birth experience, she went out of her way to research options for treatment and found someone to help me in my area.  I would recommend her services to anyone.
Sincerely,
Audrey D. and John Melzer

I can wholeheartedly endorse Sharon Gourlay.  She is a hardworking, ethical individual.  Sharon's eagerness is infective.  Her knowledge as a HypnoBirthing childbirth educator combined with her life experience comprise a well rounded package.  Sharon has also completed hypnotherapy and reiki training.  This allows for a multifaceted approach to teaching and therapeutic practice.  I am happy to know Sharon.
Nichole Hoch, MAT, HBCE

Calin Jack’s Birth Story
We found out we were expecting our first child on December 15th 2009.  I had mixed feelings about the pregnancy.  I was excited for this new chapter in our lives, but I was also very apprehensive about my ability to give birth and be a good mother.  So many of the birth stories I had heard from friends and family were full of complications – I had scars from the forceps used in my birth until I was a teenager.  This was all very scary to me.

Luckily, my husband Chris was very supportive throughout the whole process.  He understood my misgivings and was patient with me when I felt like I couldn’t do it.  We talked about a home birth from the very beginning, hoping that this option would reduce the potential for some of the complications I feared.  We even met with the homebirth midwives at 8 weeks, only for me to decide shortly after that I felt I couldn’t “do” a homebirth.  I didn’t have faith in my ability to have a successful birth and handle the discomfort of the process.  We planned for a hospital birth with the goal of as natural of a birth as possible.  As part of our preparation, we took a Hypnobirthing class to help with pain management.  Although I learned relaxation techniques and the process of natural labor, the most important thing I gleaned from the class was confidence in myself and my body to be able to birth my baby. 

Our Hypnobirthing instructor Sharon encouraged us to hire a doula to support us in the hospital to help with a natural labor and birth.  We met Alison, a doula-monitrice, who encouraged us to think about all of the alternatives and methods to support our birth wishes.  When we realized that many of our “wants” could or would not be supported in the hospital setting, we revisited the homebirth option.  I was 36 weeks pregnant at this time. 

Luckily, the homebirth midwives were willing to take us on as clients and began to perform prenatal care in tandem with my OB.  We continued to see our OB as backup in case of last minute complications, although we had not told them about our plans for homebirth as the practice did not support that choice.  At 40 weeks, the OB began to pressure me into induction, although myself and the baby were doing fine and I have a familial history of 42 week pregnancies.  I decided to break ties with the OB at that time.  Next came 2 long weeks of waiting (I had taken off work after my due date) and wondering if I was EVER going to have my baby.

Pre-labor finally began on the evening of September 1st, although contractions were easy and 10-20 minutes apart.  This continued and I finally asked Alison to come over at 2am on September 2rd.  She and her apprentice Suzan stayed until that morning, and finally left after I showed no progress.  The evening of September 3rd I called her in tears, exhausted and wondering whether things would ever start.  She advised I try to “stop my labor” by getting in the birth pool and relaxing so that I could get some rest that night.  It helped and allowed me to sleep a few hours – I spent the rest of the evening in the rocking chair using my Hypnobirth breathing to get through contractions.  I got up, just as exhausted as the day before, and called the midwife Audra over to check me to see if I was progressing at all.  She measured me at 4-5 cm and I was so relieved!  Shortly after that, labor began to pick up and the rest of my support team, including the second midwife Kelley, came to the house.

I was so glad that things were finally revving up, but the contractions were much stronger.  I tried using the Hypnobirth breathing to manage them, but I found that vocalization was much more effective for me at dealing with them.  We walked, I took a shower, and then decided to get in the tub at the suggestion of someone, I can’t remember who now.  The tub was great – the contractions were just as strong but the heat helped to take the edge off and allow me to relax in between.  Chris was in the tub with me the entire time, providing hip compressions during every contraction.  I remember thinking “he must be getting tired” but I was so thankful to have his constant support.  At one point, I asked him to start counting breaths throughout my contractions.  I found that if I could get to 30, I would be through the hardest part and could manage the rest. 

The midwives had brought a birth stool and suggested I try a few contractions on it to help move things along.  It was so hard to leave the warmth of the pool and position myself on this awkward stool, but I wanted to try.  After the hardest contraction of the entire labor, I declared I was done with the stool.  I remember the absolute worst moment of the entire labor was standing up from the stool – it was the only time I recall crying out in pain, rather than just using the “really loud” moaning  to manage.

At around 3 pm, I asked Audra to check me again.  When she said 7 cm, I wanted to cry.  I thought, “8 hours of labor and only 2-3 cms gained!”  She suggested I try walking up and down the stairs; I thought stairs sounded like a horrible idea.  I did it anyway with Chris’ help, and 30 minutes later, I found I couldn’t get through a contraction without wanting to push.  Another check at that time and I was 10 cms and ready to push- so happy this time.  Pushing was good…I tried in the pool for a while, but didn’t make great progress.  Audra suggested that d**n birth stool again, stating “it gets babies out.”  Although the baby’s heart rate was fine throughout, it had started dropping closer to the 100’s and I was encouraged to get the baby out sooner. 

The birth stool was so much better for pushing.  I did not feel the pain like during the contractions, and I felt I could get traction during the push.  Chris sat behind me, encouraging me the entire time.  After an hour total of pushing, the baby finally came out at 5:37pm, September 4th.   The moment was agony and ecstasy in the same instance.  We hadn’t know what we were having – it was such a great surprise to wait until that moment.  It was a boy!  He was crying from the first moment and required no suctioning.  I held him immediately, then the team helped me up and over to the pull out couch we had prepared.  After making sure I delivered the placenta and my uterus was contracting down, the team left Chris and I with our little man for an hour of bonding.  He was a perfectly healthy handsome boy. 

The only other surprise of the night was when the midwives weighed him – he was 9 lbs 12 ozs, a big boy!  Audra had guessed between 7 and 8 pounds at our prenatal visit earlier that week, so I never suspected he would be so big.  The midwives were right about the birth stool – I’m not sure I would have been able to push him out, especially so quickly, without it.  I had 2 minor tears that did not require stitches.  Other than being sore, I immediately felt better after the birth than I had for the latter part of the pregnancy.   We spent that night together in our own home with our new baby.

I was fortunate to be a good candidate for home birth.  God blessed me with a low risk pregnancy, and a healthy baby in a good position.  We had a wonderful support team that encouraged us, made us eat and drink throughout to keep up strength, and offered suggestions to help manage the labor and delivery.  We were able to have the natural, gentle birth we had envisioned, reducing the risk for interventions and sedating effects of medications on the baby.  Although it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, I have nothing but positive memories of the experience and a new found confidence in my strength and power as a woman.









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