Pardon Our Construction...

I've been making some changes- to my life that is. I've been rearranging a few things. For starters, my extra weight is starting to negatively impact my life- so it has to go. I'm working in time for two things: exercise and writing. I've made my bedtime earlier (my evenings are woefully unproductive anyway) so I can get up earlier to walk. I've also found a gym near my office where I can do a midday workout. I'm taking Wednesday afternoons off to devote to writing. I can't let my life potential be sabotaged by ill health or disorganization. There is so much I want to do.
I have two article due out tomorrow. I'll post a link when they go online.
I met with Miss Valtra yesterday to discuss our book. We are stuck on whether our audience should be professionals or consumers. This one is tough. I was stuck on this same question with the homebirth book for nearly a year! But there is no point in picking up a pen until this crucial question is answered. We went back and forth for two hours discussing the pros and cons of each focus. Professionals need resources to assist them in encouraging their clients to breastfeed, but they can also act as gatekeepers to keep knowledge from clients. If we write a consumer book that appeals directly to women- women can access the knowledge for themselves. Valtra voiced frustration that one of her clients told her she went to a hospital breastfeeding course, and when she became excited and asked the lactation consultant what it took to become a lactation consultant, she was not given a direct answer. Valtra was furious. I know her frustration. There aren't enough nurses of color either. Part of the purpose of the book could be to inspire women of color to enter our professions because our needs aren't being met by professionals who fail in understanding what we need and how to encourage us (even when their intentions are good). Lord knows I saw plenty of providers whose intentions weren't good. "Those women don't breastfeed, so why invest the time?" sort of thinking. I'm not bitter about this, I'm just struggling. On one hand I want to write a book for my co-workers in the trenches to assist them with their clients, on the other hand, I want to write a book that pregnant and breastfeeding moms can pull off the library shelf and read for themselves and empower themselves. Everything flows from that choice. Even the title will be different depending on what audience we are writing to. This is not a how to book- this will be a book imploring the audience to consider the high stakes of black women not breastfeeding, medically, socially, politically, etc. We can't even choose a publisher until we know the slant of the book, professional resource literature or consumer guide? Any thoughts Dear Readers?