As a Board Certified Patient Advocate and Full Spectrum Doula, Ziah McKinney specializes in supporting people with Disabilities and high risk factors. This support centers preparation as the foundation of safety and dignity. Support is individualized and built around your specific condition or issues, with a focus on reducing risk through planning, education, and clear communication.
Services include:
In-depth research on your disability or health conditions
Consultation and information gathering from relevant specialists
A minimum of three prenatal visits focused on risk identification and mitigation
Optional support during a perinatal provider appointment to help your medical team fully understand your needs
A customized, medically informed birth plan formatted as a clear checklist for midwives or hospital staff
Documentation of accommodations, medications, dietary needs, and communication supports/AAC
This process ensures that your care team is informed, prepared, and aligned before labor begins. Advocacy is not just about being present at birth. It is about the preparation that helps protect your dignity, safety and autonomy.
“I am so grateful I had Ziah during my pregnancy and labor - she presented so much great information and resources to inform the decisions I was going to make about my birthing plan. Ziah was amazing support during the birth and I couldn’t have imagined it without her! She will be your best advocate and create so much comfort in your space.”
Doula Details and Specialities
Reproductive, Pregnancy, Birth, & Postpartum Support Since 2018
My passion as a Doula is creating a more calm, comfortable, informed reproductive journey for my clients. I am honored to be your Advocate and support you Physically, Informationally, and Emotionally before, during, and immediately after birth.
According to ACOG/The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists, in an article about surgical birth/c sections, “Published data indicate that one of the most effective tools to improve labor and delivery outcomes is… a doula.”
Q- What does a Doula cost? My services a so widely varied for each client due to my specialties that I do not have a set cost. My diverse list of services is sent once a client contacts me so they can select from the “menu.” An average birth doula cost in the Atlanta area is around $1200 to $1800 and that is my scale. I also offer Green Bottle sliding scale cost for clients, especially my clients with a Disability.
Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Education + Birth Plan Creation
Each person and birth has its own needs, therefore a one size fits all group class cannot cover all the things that YOU want to know. This class is for just you and your birth partner(s).
*Meets three times virtually so you are relaxed at home
*Class is individually tailored to your questions and needs
*We create a "birth plan" as the class progresses
This class takes three sessions to complete. This is a virtual class that saves you money on space rental and travel time.
EDS Support
I specialize in supporting EDSers during pregnancy, birth and postpartum. As a parent with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS) I have especially sought out ways to support birthing EDSers with their special physical and emotional needs. Clients receive my 18 page EDS Pregnancy, Birth and Postpartum handout, based on my studies with the Ehlers Danlos Society monthly, and the community based study about how reproductive systems are affected by Ehlers Danlos Syndrome/EDS I conducted with my research partner Erica Evans, a fertility specialist that specializing in people with Disabilities and Chronic Illness.
Trans/Queer/LGBTI+ Support
I am a Queer doula that is somewhere on the gender spectrum. To support the LGBTQIA+ community I originally trained with Trystan Reese, a pioneer in Transgender birth education. This training included support for the Queer community in general on how to support during medical visits, during labor, plus postpartum and chest feeding questions. I then pursued training with Birth Advocacy Doula Training’s Reproductive Justice pioneers Sabia Wade and Jenna “JB” Brown.
Childbirth Education + Birth Plan Creation
Each person and birth has its own needs, therefore a one size fits all group class cannot cover all the things that YOU want to know. This class is for just you and your birth partner(s).
*Meets three times virtually so you are relaxed at home
*Class is individually tailored to your questions and needs
*We create a "birth plan" as the class progresses
This class takes three sessions to complete. This is a virtual class that saves you money on space rental and travel time.
Birth Dance
Weekly classes Ziah trained in the international sensation Dancing for Birth™ in 2019, combining Ziah’s 25+ years of being a dance instructor and her Birth Doula studies to help reduce tension, increase oxytocin, loosen hips, and optimize birth position. These all can liberate the body to ease birth and help it be a quicker and more pleasurable experience.
Baby Shower/Blessing Way Gathering
From just Bell Tent Rental, to Full Party Set Up and Catering, Ziah has been Glamping and Event Planning her whole adult life (30+ years) and can make your party unique and special. Schedule an “Event Consultation” and let’s get this party started!
Baby Sign Language
Baby Sign Language Want your baby to cry less? An infant can sign their wants and needs by age 6 to 11 months, 6 to 12 months before they would be able to speak their first words or a sentence. My daughter was able to tell me “I hear birds outside” at age 11 months, she was signing “milk,” “diaper change,” “eat,” and “pain” at age 6 months.
Garden Share and Placenta Planting
Ziah is a food forester and can share fresh herbs and fruit from her garden when in season. She also is happy to help you memorialize your birth by planting your placenta in a special place with a tree or bush that has meaning to you and your family. Ziah has been gardening all her life and knows that plants can have meaning. We can explore what to plant and where to plant it either for a ceremony or just a fun gardening day.
Bone Closing/Postpartum Massage and Infant Massage Lessons
Bone Closing is hands on support to realign and move together the bones after birth and your body’s relaxin and progesterone hormones have begun to exit your body postpartum. I have been a professional massage therapist for almost 30 years. WIth my studies in postpartum support, anatomy of loose joints (EDS studies), combined with massage experience I offer a bone closing that can range from ceremonial to therapeutic and anywhere in between.
