In this episode of Girly Pop Birth Talks, we sit with Kelci Mukisa mother of three, homebirth doula, photographer, homeschool mama and a woman who has learned to trust the quiet voice within her.

Kelci has birthed three babies.

One in a hospital room.

Two in the sacred stillness of home.

But this conversation isn’t about where she gave birth.

It’s about who she became.

She shares what early motherhood actually felt like the tenderness, the isolation, the stretching of identity. The way your world expands and narrows all at once. The quiet ache of wishing someone would say the things you were thinking but didn’t yet have language for.

There was a kind of village she longed for.

Honest. Grounded. Faith-filled.

A space where women spoke gently but truthfully about motherhood not polished, not performative just real.

And when she couldn’t find it…

She began building it.

We talk about:

– How her three births shaped her confidence

– The unseen emotional landscape of becoming a mother

– Growing into her voice instead of shrinking it

– Supporting women in birth while still learning herself

– Raising babies while creating meaningful work

– What it means to build community with intention

Kelci carries motherhood with depth and softness.

Her words feel like an exhale.

This episode is for the woman who feels the becoming happening inside her.

For the one quietly building something she once needed.

Sometimes the calling isn’t loud.

Sometimes it’s just a whisper that says,

“Be what you were looking for.”

And she did.

In this heartfelt and deeply honest episode of Girly Pop Birth Talks, Becca and Arielle sit down with special guest Ellen Silva to unpack her powerful journey through two very different hospital births.

At just 29 years old, Ellen has already navigated pregnancy, motherhood, and unexpected challenges with incredible strength. As a middle school teacher, makeup artist, wife, and mom of two little ones, she opens up about what birth really looked like for her behind the highlight reel.

We dive into:

Her first hospital birth with an epidural that ended in a traumatic postpartum hemorrhage

What it felt like to hear her own doctors label her experience as “traumatic”

Processing fear and recovery in the early postpartum days

Her second pregnancy, complicated by preterm labor at just 32 weeks

Spending six long weeks trying to “keep baby Henry in”

The emotional rollercoaster of hospitalization, uncertainty, and resilience

Making it all the way to 38 weeks after being told delivery could be imminent

How Ellen’s perspective on birth, support, and motherhood shifted the second time around

Her doula experience and how it shaped both of her labors

And the story of how she “redeemed breastfeeding” after a difficult start

This conversation is real, relatable, and full of the kind of honesty we love on Girly Pop Birth Talks. Whether you’ve experienced birth trauma, preterm labor, or just want to feel seen in your own motherhood journey—this episode will wrap you in a big virtual hug.

As always, we’re here to remind you: every birth story matters.

In this episode of Girly Pop Birth Talks, Becca and Arielle sit down with Dr. Shanna Saenz, DC, chiropractor and mama of two, to share her two very different — and equally powerful — birth stories.

Shanna walks us through her first birth at the California Birth Center, where her water broke unexpectedly while walking around Raley’s at 37+6. When labor didn’t begin on its own, she made the empowered decision to use castor oil, leading to an 8-hour labor and a calm, supported birth just days later.

Her second birth, a planned home birth through CBC, was a completely different experience — fast, intense, and almost missed. With only two hours of active labor, a water birth in the middle of the day, and a midwife arriving at 2:53 PM with baby born at 3:10 PM, this birth became a powerful lesson in trusting the body and letting go of expectations (and the timeline 😅).

Together, we talk about:

Birth center vs. home birth experiences

Fast labor and how it can surprise even experienced moms

Trusting your body when labor doesn’t follow the “rules”

How chiropractic care can support pregnancy & birth

Surrender, intuition, and body wisdom in labor

What second births teach us about control and confidence

This episode is real, grounding, and empowering — a reminder that birth doesn’t have to look one way to be powerful and that your body is always worthy of trust.

🎧 Perfect for mamas, birth workers, and anyone who loves honest birth stories that leave you feeling more confident in your body.