A twenty-thousand dollar, programmable robot intended to simulate the many complications that can arise during childbirth, she urinates, breathes, and "ultimately delivers a plastic doll that can change colors, from a healthy pink glow to the deadly blue of oxygen deficiency." By using this mannequin, it's hoped that the errors sometimes caused by doctors being trained on real patients can be avoided.

We're all for innovations that avoid the medical errors that lead to the deaths of over 98,000 U.S. patients last year, especially in the frequently underserved area of womens' health. So, we hope that Dr. Paul Preston, an anesthesiologist at Kaiser Permanente and architect of the hospital chain’s 4-year-old pregnancy-care training program, meant it when he said "The mannequins are cool, but it is only one training tool." Given the befuddlement we've personally witnessed from doctors confronted with our real, live reproductive system, the last thing we need is a generation of doctors trained on a young Kim Cattrall.

Other dolls that freak us out: Sharon Hallingdal: The Living Doll, and who could forget the Real Doll (NSFW)?

Image from the Real Doll site, but you knew that already, didn't you? Don't deny it.