Baby think it over

PALMER - Charlotte wakes up every one to two hours to care for her crying newborn, gets ready for school at 6:30 a.m., bundles up her little child and catches the school bus.

Having a child in school is very difficult, as the baby often cries at inopportune times, such as in the middle of a chemistry test or in the school library. Other students often want to hold the baby, but Charlotte is wary. In the past students were not careful with the child and left its head unsupported. One nearly dropped the baby.

Charlotte is not a real student. Her experience, however, is similar to those of Palmer High students who recently cared for computerized infant simulators in the Baby Think It Over program introduced in Child Studies 2 classes.

The nationwide program is geared for use in reducing teen pregnancies, providing parenting education and preventing child abuse. According to literature provided by the Baby Think It Over program, the infant simulator has been used in several studies on adolescent pregnancy in New Mexico school districts.

In the study, more than 90 percent of the participants said the Baby Think It Over program helped them decide to delay parenthood.

The infant simulators are programmed to cry every half hour to two hours. The dolls monitor their treatment, recording how many minutes they cry before their caretaker cares for them. They also record instances of rough handling, which could come from carelessly banging the dolls car seat into something, dropping something on the child, or falling with the child, for example. Four of the eight dolls the high school has available also have sliding necks, which ensures the caretaker properly supports the babys neck when handling the child. These dolls also monitor the number of times the babys neck was not properly supported.

Four students in the Palmer High Child Studies 2 course recently took the realistic newborn dolls home over a three-day period to better understand the demands infants place on their caretakers. Their response was positive, although the students were happy when the project was finished.

Its one of those things where you were glad you could give it back when it was over, said Palmer senior Colleen Faulkner.

The students said the program did give them an idea of how demanding newborns can be, but there were drawbacks to the program.

It does have its disadvantages, sophomore Desiree Wares said. All you have to do is put the key in its back you dont go through the changing, the burping, the little sounds babies make.

The students explained that each doll has a box that fits into its back. The box contains the recorder that monitors activity. It also holds batteries and has a slot in which a plastic key fits.

Each student gets a key that fits their child. That key is placed on a non-removable wristband and, when the child cries, the student inserts the key into the dolls back, turns it, and waits for it to coo, the signal that it is finished. The length of time the key needs to be in the babys back represents the amount of time an activity may take. For example, feeding time may take 30 minutes, while changing a diaper may take five or 10.

Students are asked to keep a log detailing the time of each cry, how long the care time was, what activity it interrupted and how the student felt when that activity was interrupted. Students reported they were often irritated when the child interrupted their sleep or other activities.

Nancy Derrington, teacher of the Child Studies courses, said the students enjoyed the program.

[When they brought it back], most were pretty positive, she said, but they were ready to bring the baby back.

She noted that some students, after taking the doll home for the weekend, didnt want to sign up for a third or fourth day. Faulkner gave some insight as to why.

At the end, I was like, Yeah, Im ready to give it back now ready to get my sleep, she said.

Although the program is geared at preventing teen pregnancies, the Palmer High students said the project didnt prompt a decision to delay parenthood.

It didnt give me any second thoughts, said sophomore Kira Coburn., who said she was already planning on waiting until she was older before having children.

Some of her peers expressed similar sentiments.

I already knew I wasnt ready, said sophomore Desiree Wares.

Births to girls between the ages of 15 and 19 in the Mat-Su Borough totaled 97 per 1,000 teens in 1995 and 1996, but were down to 75 per 1,000 in 1998. Phillip Mitchell of the Alaska Bureau of Vital Statistics said teen birth rates are down, but that is not necessarily because of teen pregnancy prevention tactics. He said the total birth rate has fallen as well.

Our teen birth rate has gone down considerably in the last five years, but it still makes up about 11 percent [of the total births in Alaska], he said.

Mitchell noted the drop in numbers follows the state trend.

Diane Demoski, nurse at Burchell High School, said they also use the Baby Think It Over dolls in their high school. The dolls have not been used as tools to prevent teen pregnancies, she said, but as tools in parenting classes instead.

Students come here most of the time after theyre already pregnant or parenting, Demoski said.

She said one program that has been successful is that, as part of the parenting class, some of the couples in the school have taken the dolls home to see what it is like as a couple to care for the newborn.

Some really get into it and decide its pretty easy, she said. For most, its just helpful for them to realize that it really does require 24-hour care.

She speculated that there may be more of a chance of preventing teen pregnancies if middle school students went through the program instead.

Nancy McDonnell Kent, a nurse practitioner at Wasilla Health Center, said the health center was currently working on a program to use some of the Burchell High dolls in its family planning program.

We have young people coming in thinking about pregnancy or coming in for repeat pregnancy tests, Kent said.

Since some teens come in without parental consent, taking one of the Baby Think It Over dolls home would be voluntary.

It would be strictly something they would volunteer for, Kent said. We would never violate anybodys confidentiality.

Kent also pointed out that they could offer the dolls to youth who are home-schooled or take correspondence courses.

We see a lot of people being home-schooled or taking correspondence courses, who may not have access to something like this in the public schools, she said.

Kent saw the program as a real educational opportunity for those that come into her office.

Its just a real eye-opener, she said, to know what its like to have to care for a child 24 hours a day.Photo: Kira Coburn and Desiree Wares, Palmer High sophomores, cuddle their computerized babies during their Child Studies 2 course. The two recently participated in the Baby Think It Over program.

Photo by RINDI WHITE.