1/4/2008

Schools in the UK city of Lancashire are coming up with novel and high tech strategies to lower rates of teen pregnancies.

Teenage girls are getting a first hand lesson in the responsibilities of motherhood. The simulated parenting sessions included pregnancy and taking care of a newborn baby.

In order to simulate pregnancy the teenagers wear empathy bellies. An empathy belly is a weighted garment designed to allow the wearer to experience pregnancy personally. Most empathy bellies simulate pregnancy using a weighted vest (as much as 30 pounds) that can replicate the feeling of fetal kicking and stroking movements. The weight of an empathy belt provides most of the stress from wearing the vest. An added 30 pounds to the front of the body can cause shortness of breath, increased blood pressure, increased body temperature, lower back pain, increased bladder pressure and frequency of urination. All of these symptoms together cause what may be the most important lesson in terms of feeling empathy for a pregnant woman - irritability, fatigue, and the stress of dealing with a major body change for nine months. When the teenagers wear the empathy belly in public they experience another effect of teenage pregnancy. They feel the looks of disapproval or pity from others. This may have an equal or bigger impact than the physical effects of pregnancy.

The living dolls given to the students require newborn parenting responsibilities in high-tech ways. The students are required to wear a wristband that communicates with the living doll. This system monitors how successful the teens are in caring for the mock newborn. The chip records how well the girls meet the dolls needs, These responsibilities include changing diapers, feeding, and responding to the doll crying. This latter responsiblity kept many of the teens up all night as the dolls would cry every hour or even more frequently.

Although this program is still in a trial phase, schools outside of Lancashire are considering implementation.