,21If you are an educator or member of any organization working with teens and are interested in educating them about the responsibility of caring for a child or the effects of pregnancy, CHART Teen Task Force offers REALCARE BABY® and Empathy Belly.

Our community coordinator, Leigh Ann Bergman, facilitates two separate programs that each provide unique experiences for teens. REALCARE BABY® and Empathy Belly Pregnancy Simulators both provide hands on experiences that allow teens the experience of caring for the needs of an infant or feeling the weight and restrictions of a pregnancy belly.

REALCARE BABY®

There are 25 REALCARE BABY® infant simulators in our program. The Coordinator is responsible for the upkeep of the simulators, education of teachers, and students on their use, delivery to schools, and program evaluation. Each infant simulator is accompanied by a car seat and diaper bag; which includes a diaper, bottle and/or breastfeeding sensor, baby blanket, baby wipes, a change of clothes, and a baby carrier.

When the  REALCARE BABY® program is requested by a school or organization, the Community Coordinator will make arrangements to provide an onsite presentation within the school/organization to train teachers on how to use the infant simulators and demonstrate to the students how to care for the infant over the course of their experience.

In the 2021-2022 school year, 12 schools participated in the REALCARE BABY® program providing over 376 students access to teen parenting simulations. Participating schools in 2021-2022 include: Mark Twain High School, Bowling Green High School, Canton High School, Foundation For Life Christian Academy, South Shelby High School, North Shelby High School, Marion County R-II, Palmyra High School, Hannibal High School, Hannibal Middle School, Highland High School, Canton High School, and Clark County High School.

Empathy Belly

The CHART Teen Task Force has two Pregnancy Simulators in the Empathy Belly Program. The pregnancy simulator gives the student a 30-35 lbs. weight gain, as well as other symptoms of pregnancy. Students will normally wear the simulator for 15-20 minutes and during that time participate in a series of activities, such as walking, sitting at a school desk, sitting on the floor, tying their shoe, etc., to obtain the unique hands-on experience.

When the Empathy Belly program is requested, the community coordinator will facilitate a time to provide an in-person demonstration of the simulator with the students, assisting students as they each participate in the experience of wearing the simulator.

In the 2021-2022 school year, 11 schools participated in Empathy Belly program, providing approximately 338 students with the experience of pregnancy through the simulator. Participating schools in 2021-2022 include: Mark Twain High School, Paris High School, Foundation For Life Christian Academy, North Shelby High School, South Shelby High School, Marion County R-II, Palmyra High School, Highland High School, Hannibal High School, Hannibal Middle School, Canton High School, and Clark County High School.

ALL of our programs are open to any school, church group, or youth group, in our seven county area at NO COST. Our seven counties include: Marion, Ralls, Pike, Monroe, Shelby, Lewis, and Clark.

Leigh Ann has been a member of the CHART Teen Task Force since 2001, and in her current role as the coordinator of our two programs since 2005.

If interested in either of these programs, please contact Leigh Ann Bergman at 573-822-4271 or ltbergman@hotmail.com.