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The What To Expect Foundation September 2, 1998 Jennifer Klein Second Floor, West Wing The White House Washington, DC 20502 Dear Jennifer, It was such a pleasure speaking with you about the goals of The What To Expect Foundation (and the trials and tribulations of working mothers!) I'm sorry it has taken me so long to send you this material. Since we've spoken I've been having some medical problems that are too dramatic and overly maudlin to bore you with. They put me out of commission for a month or so, but I'm now very happy to send you the promised introduction to The What To Expect Foundation, with apologies for my tardiness. As you'll see from the attached material, our first goal is to write low-literacy versions of the What To Expect Books, in a variety of languages that will be distributed free of charge to women across the country. Then, for women who are unwilling or unable to read, we will do an MTV quality video series about pregnancy and parenthood that will be hosted by movie stars and athletes. For example, Queen Latiyfah on baby's first foods, Gloria Estafan on the myths of pregnancy Finally, we hope to help professionalize and expand the mother mentoring programs across the country. As I mentioned, we held our first planning meeting this June at the offices of The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. At that meeting we asked an extraordinary group of woman to help us plan the research, writing, and distribution of our books and videos. The group also discussed our mother mentoring plans. The meeting was very helpful as they wisely helped us focus our goals and structure our agenda. I've attached a list of the attendees. Many more from related organizations were unable to come but asked to be considered friends and advisors. My years of working as a literacy tutor taught me that the most successful adult teaching materials possess two deceptively simple characteristics. They're about something the reader wants to know and they're presented in an attractive, entertaining, non-preachy package. Likewise, in their pre-natal classes at Riker's Island Correctional Facility, Heidi and Arlene (The authors of What To Expect) found that incarcerated women, even with criminal histories and drug addictions were starved for information, 41 W. 83ʳᵈ Street Suite New York New York-10024~(212)712-9764