Detra Ferguson, Administrator and Owner, Direct Care Prenatal

With a wealth of resources to share, a skilled team of 25 full- and part-time employees, and a strong commitment to the community, Direct Care Prenatal, a prenatal and child care coordination program, assists pregnant moms and new mothers with a wide variety of services, such as:

  • Life management
  • Parenting skills
  • Jobs
  • Housing
  • Infant items and care packages
  • Emotional and mental support

What sets Direct Care Prenatal apart from other prenatal care agencies, explains Owner and Administrator Detra Ferguson, is its focus on empowerment rather than dependency. In other words, all Direct Care Prenatal’s resources are used to help their clients—pregnant moms and new mothers who are enrolled in Medicaid or Badger Care Plus—become better providers for their families.

“We don’t want to handcuff them so they solely depend on everything from these agencies. It’s our job to provide them with the life skills to live a healthy life,” says Detra. To do that, Direct Care Prenatal offers a range of resources their clients can take advantage of:

  • Job Training/Computer Lab
  • Interview Prepping & Attire
  • Coping Skills & Mentorship
  • Understanding a Child’s Needs
  • CBRF Training (Community Based Residential Facility)
  • Developing Healthy Eating Habits
  • Financial Literacy
  • Coping As a Single Mother

There is a strong emphasis on education at Direct Care Prenatal and several fundamental beliefs. They are, as one can read on the website, “Learning should always be fun,” and, “The goal of an education should be to expose people to new ideas and embed in them a love of learning that inspires them to become lifelong learners.”

Dads are empowered, along with the moms. For instance, they’re allowed to attend the CBRF classes. What’s more, says Detra, Direct Care Prenatal “works with the dads who reach out and have things on their records from their past. We try to give them information and work with them, like getting things expunged. We work with dads as far as getting child support. We work with the dads finding jobs, getting the proper training that’s offered here in the community so they can provide for the family. And then we also work with them with the driver’s license program. If their license is suspended or what not, there is a program for the dads to go out and clear their name up.”

Alongside education, Direct Care Prenatal also emphasizes job preparedness, as you might have guessed in seeing the resources list shown above. That’s why, Detra says, she’s, “In the middle of hiring on two human resource representatives, one from HTC and the other from the City of Milwaukee, who will be working with the young ladies [at Direct Care Prenatal].”

Detra explains the reps will be teaching customer service, job readiness, resume writing, job attire, and “giving them the necessary training they need to go out and grab jobs. A lot of these women are not trained properly. They don’t know how to conduct a job interview. They don’t know the proper clothes to wear to a job interview.”

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2020 Christmas Toy Drive

Direct Care Prenatal also donates items to the surrounding community. Outreach is important to Detra and it’s what got her to take the first step in opening her own small business. With previous positions, she wasn’t able to give back as much as she wanted. Now she has the ability to share as much as she can. That includes reaching out to women whose pride won’t let them come to the agency and sign up for assistance.

Direct Care Prenatal had a supply drive back in August when they gave away over 1,000 supply boxes. The agency also gives away food boxes, infant items, care packages, cleaning supplies, hand sanitizer, gloves, masks, etc. Direct Care Prenatal will also be providing some essentials for Christmas.

Community outreach and special events aside, here’s a comprehensive list of the “hot topics” moms to be and new moms can expect help with at Direct Care Prenatal:

CBRF Training Class

Health
Pre-pregnancy and prenatal diets
Pregnancy nutrition
Safe exercise during pregnancy
Weight management

Preparing for Pregnancy
Preparing for delivery
Signs and stages of labor
After delivery care

Infant/Child Safety
Baby/child proofing and health issues
Immunization/vaccines
General care
Food & nutrition

Remember, everything Direct Care Prenatal offers is meant to empower its clients and provide them with the support they need to help build better tomorrows for their families. Follow them on Facebook. Direct Care Prenatal can be contacted here.