A SCHOOL education program where high school girls cared for robot babies in a bid to reduce teenage pregnancies has failed, according to new WA research.

The study, conducted by the Telethon Kids Institute, and published in Lancet on Friday, found that rather than reduce pregnancy rates among teenagers, it actually increased the occurrence of pregnancies.

Camera Icon The infant simulator at the centre of the program. Credit: Supplied

Nearly 3000 WA school girls aged 13-15 years from 57 public and independent schools took part in the trial between 2003 and 2006 to assess the Virtual Infant Parenting (VIP) program, which was very popular among schools throughout Australia at the time and is still widely used overseas.

About half of the students who were in the “intervention group” were given the lifelike babies for a weekend, while the other girls, who were in the control group, were given the standard health education curriculum.

The robot babies, or infant simulators, reflected the behaviour of six-week-old babies including sustained crying.

Researchers, who tracked the girls until they turned 20, found that girls who did the VIP program with the robot babies, had a 17 per cent rate of pregnancy, which compares to 11 per cent for girls who received standard health education.

The study also found there were fewer abortions by teenagers who took part in the VIP program — 53.8 per cent of pregnancies in the intervention group ended in terminations, compared to 60.1 per cent in the other group.

Camera Icon Dr Sally Brinkman, the lead investigator in a Perth study to assess the VIP program in schools. Credit: Supplied

The study’s lead investigator Dr Sally Brinkman said the program was largely stopped in WA public schools as a form of intervention in 2007 as soon as initial results indicated the program was failing.

But Dr Brinkman said it had taken until now to finalise the research findings.

“This is the largest study of its kind and highlights that even the most well intentioned programs can have unexpected consequences,” she said.

She said there still were public and independent schools in Australia, including WA, which used the robot babies for childcare-focused education.

It’s also believed that many Catholic schools were still using the robot babies for intervention purposes.

WA Education Department’s statewide services executive director Lindsay Hale, said: “Infant simulators are generally used in public schools as part of learning about childcare in the children, family and community course in Years 11 and 12, and not with the intention of reducing the risk of teenage pregnancy”.

“The Department of Education has notified principals of the findings of the research. Public schools make local decisions about the use of educational resources and specific lessons based on the needs and interests of their students and the curriculum,” he said.

“Principals will use these findings to inform their decisions about these simulators.”

Dr Brinkman said some students with robot babies became attached to their babies and even experienced emotional trauma when they had to hand them back.

Dr Brinkman said some students with robot babies became attached to their babies and even experienced emotional trauma when they had to hand them back.

She said many students enjoyed the attention they received from family and friends when they had the robot babies.

Dr Brinkman said the failure of the VIP program showed how important it was that intervention-based programs were scientifically evaluated before being implemented in schools.

“Australia has the sixth highest teen pregnancy rate out of 21 OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries and this study will help policy makers better tackle the issue.”