The dolls teach parental responsibility

Wales has one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancy in the UK, and it is hoped the dolls will help young people realise the pressures of childcare.

The �400 computerised dolls cry, demand attention and record how competently they have been cared for.

The Chequers youth facility at Aberdare in the Cynon valley wants to buy six.

Gaynor Ryan, manager of Chequers explained how dolls have been hired by the centre to give to the young people to look after for a week.

I think it opened their eyes a bit. Gaynor Ryan, Chequers

But Ms Ryan said that the demand for the dolls by other organisations meant the centre faced long waiting times to receive them.

Similar dolls were used in the game show Big Brother, which showed contestants being kept awake all night by the "baby's" crying and need to be fed.

Ms Ryan said the Cynon Valley teenagers had been given an insight into what it was like to care for a young child.

"The people who took part in the course, realised the responsibility of looking after a baby," she said.

"They had to care for the doll as if it was a real baby - and I think it opened their eyes a bit.

Responsibility

"I think a lot of the time, their mothers were being roped in for baby-sitting duties because the young people didn't realise how much responsibility comes with looking after a baby.

"When they were coming to the club - they were even getting the boys to take the dolls off their hands for a bit too."

"Having the dolls is a fun way of learning responsibility and it is very effective too," she added.

Although Britain has the highest rate of teenage pregnancies in Western Europe, recent ONS figures show that there has been a fall in the numbers.

However, Wales still has a higher number of teenage pregnancies than the rest of the UK.