Tweet
Is this going too far? 
An amazing new scanning technique allows expectant mothers to hold a life-size model of their unborn child.
So much for Raggedy Ann. Playing with dolls is serious business these days. In Spain, a toy maker hopes a new breast-feeding doll will instill in little girls the idea that, when the time comes, they should nurse their newborns. Meanwhile, in Brazil, doctors are giving expectant moms a chance to hold life-sized, plaster models of their fetuses, thanks to a new 3-D imaging technology.
The Bebé Glotón, the breast-feeding doll, which translates from Spanish to mean Glutton Baby, comes with a snazzy halter top - adorned with daisies for nipples - that little girls wear while they pretend to breast-feed. According to thingamababy.com, the doll makes suckling noises when lifted to the daisies.
Lest the bigger girls feel left out, doctors in Brazil are testing a new invention that converts MRI scans and ultrasounds into 3-D printing technology, creating plaster doll models of the mom-to-be's fetus, reports the U.K.'s Timesonline.co.uk. Really, though, we don't see why the expectant moms can't practice with the breast-feeding doll, too.
Of course, there are benefits to both dolls. Anything that encourages breast-feeding and empowers young girls to embrace the natural side of womanhood is a good thing. And Stuart Campbell, M.D., a pioneer on the use of diagnostic ultrasounds in the 1980s, told the Timesonline.co.uk that he is eager to use the plaster fetus dolls to help expectant parents deal with problems that may arise during pregnancy.
We can't help but rue the loss of imagination, when a doll could be a princess or a pirate (or both) and pregnancy was miraculous, precisely because we didn't really know what was happening in that big belly.
And what exactly are you supposed to do with those plaster fetus dolls once the baby arrives?
Just askin'.
An amazing new scanning technique allows expectant mothers to hold a life-size model of their unborn child.
So much for Raggedy Ann. Playing with dolls is serious business these days. In Spain, a toy maker hopes a new breast-feeding doll will instill in little girls the idea that, when the time comes, they should nurse their newborns. Meanwhile, in Brazil, doctors are giving expectant moms a chance to hold life-sized, plaster models of their fetuses, thanks to a new 3-D imaging technology.
The Bebé Glotón, the breast-feeding doll, which translates from Spanish to mean Glutton Baby, comes with a snazzy halter top - adorned with daisies for nipples - that little girls wear while they pretend to breast-feed. According to thingamababy.com, the doll makes suckling noises when lifted to the daisies.
Lest the bigger girls feel left out, doctors in Brazil are testing a new invention that converts MRI scans and ultrasounds into 3-D printing technology, creating plaster doll models of the mom-to-be's fetus, reports the U.K.'s Timesonline.co.uk. Really, though, we don't see why the expectant moms can't practice with the breast-feeding doll, too.
Of course, there are benefits to both dolls. Anything that encourages breast-feeding and empowers young girls to embrace the natural side of womanhood is a good thing. And Stuart Campbell, M.D., a pioneer on the use of diagnostic ultrasounds in the 1980s, told the Timesonline.co.uk that he is eager to use the plaster fetus dolls to help expectant parents deal with problems that may arise during pregnancy.
We can't help but rue the loss of imagination, when a doll could be a princess or a pirate (or both) and pregnancy was miraculous, precisely because we didn't really know what was happening in that big belly.
And what exactly are you supposed to do with those plaster fetus dolls once the baby arrives?
Just askin'.
Comment