Every year, students taking the Child Development class get to briefly experience what it would really be like to be pregnant. The unit that focuses on pregnancy is crucial not just in the class, but also in real life.

To get a glimpse of what it would be like as a mother in her third trimester of pregnancy, each student participates in the Pregnancy Belly Simulation project.

The belly is worn for the duration of the class period. Students are strapped into the belly, which is similar to a backwards backpack containing 25-30 pounds of water. Two balls simulate the baby’s limbs moving around and pressing up underneath the student’s ribs, and a weight that pushes on the bladder simulates the feeling of having to go to the bathroom all the time.

Marisa Rodrigues, a senior, who took the class during her junior year, remembers just how painful the simulation was.

“It feels like you’re being squeezed all around, so it’s really hard to breathe, so you have to take much shorter breaths,” Rodrigues said.

“Your back also hurts so badly, and your balance is thrown off because you’re carrying so much weight that you aren’t used to,” she said.

To further get the experience of having a baby in their belly, students had to attempt to accomplish normal activities, like sitting down in a chair, walking around, leaning over a table to write, and getting down on the floor to try tying their shoes.

Junior Tyana Trasvina had a difficult time physically with the belly simulation.

“The balls under your ribcage put a lot of pressure and push in, and it makes your stomach hurt really bad,” Trasvina said.

The purpose of the project is not only to open students’ minds to the uncomfortable physical aspect of pregnancy, but also the downfalls of teen pregnancy.

To understand what it would be like to be pregnant at a young age, Corrina Holbrook, Child Development and Child Care teacher, had her students choose a teacher that they could visit during the class period with a note that had to be signed. A shirt must be worn over the belly so that it looks more realistic.

Having to walk out into an uncomfortable position of being looked at by strangers and walking around school the way a teen mom would have to do, allows for more of an eye-opening experience.

“I have had some teachers ask the student questions or have them do something like pick up a pencil. Also, if any student in the classroom asks if they’re actually pregnant, they have to say ‘yes’,” she said.

Visiting another classroom with the belly on is supposed to give the students a sense of the negativity pregnant teens face from their peers and from strangers.

“You get the chance to know what it would actually feel like and what any mother has to go through during pregnancy, so I do think that the project is a good way to show students that reality,” junior Tyana Trasvina said.

Although Trasvina visited a classroom with students that mostly knew about the project beforehand, the simulation still had an impact on her and she knows that it would have been a lot more uncomfortable being around students who weren’t aware the belly was for a simulation.

Rodrigues, however, experienced firsthand the negative reactions.

“It’s almost embarrassing and shameful, because you see how people are really blunt with their facial expressions and their whispers and comments,” she said.

“You’re the only one that knows it isn’t real, so it’s difficult. You really get a taste of what it’s like for actual teen moms. People are really judgmental and just kind of brutal.”

Holbrook hopes that the students will look at the whole experience and really feel and understand what it’s like to be a teen mom in today’s world with the peer pressure and judgment that they endure.