A few years ago the Mattel Toy Co. proudly announced the world’s first pregnant doll, a married Barbie clone named Mrs. Hart.

The news accounts at the time were very short on specifics, so I called Mattel and talked to someone in the PR department.

It was a bust. Mrs. Hart had only a big smock, with no baby-making equipment underneath. The baby was packed separately in the Hart Family kit.

Last week a different toy company was at it again. The Danish-made Judith doll ($19.95 at FAO Schwarz in New York) has an appropriately bulging belly, which may be lifted off to reveal an oval cavity in her abdomen and a little plastic infant tucked inside. The baby can be delivered in this fashion over and over and over again. Judith keeps smiling through each delivery, never needs an anesthetic, and has her stunning figure back instantly after giving birth.

By coincidence, a consumer group this week complained that at 21 percent, the rate of Caesarean births in this country has dropped slightly but remains unacceptably high. These folks can’t be too pleased about a doll which gives birth only by C-section.

Although Judith doesn’t have a last name (just like Mrs. Hart didn’t have a first name), the company says she’s married. Her husband Charles may be purchased separately. If you don’t buy him, I suppose child support is out of the question.

The Associated Press carried a picture of the Judith doll, and I can see why she has to have Caesareans. Just like Barbie, she has a pelvis smaller than her head. She’s so thin she makes Christie Brinkley look like a fat toad. I don’t think Judith could give vaginal birth to a mouse.

Criticism of the Judith doll was as instantaneous as her baby’s delivery.

A doll that becomes magically pregnant and unpregnant is an irresponsible toy, said a NOW spokeswoman. The concept was called repulsive. Judith looks too much like a teen-ager instead of a mommy, said one perceptive 11-year-old.

That’s true. Not too many mommies have time for big hair.

I could criticize, too, but I won’t. I think the Judith Corp. is on the right track and merely needs to fine-tune its product.

In the first place, you shouldn’t be able to buy the doll already pregnant. Charles and Judith should have to spend time together in a shoebox or someplace. Better yet, include a mailer so the child can send them off to the Poconos for a romantic weekend.

As an option, maybe Judith could pair off with GI Joe or He-Man. This is the ’90s, after all.

Then there is the fun of the pregnancy itself. I would make Judith a talking doll so kids get the full impact of what she’s going through.

Early in the pregnancy, she could complain about being tired all the time. Her mood swings would range between utter joy and manic depression, when she would burst into tears at the slightest cross word from Charles.

Then there’s the burst of energy in the second trimester as the nesting instinct sets in: “Charles, after we clean out the garage tonight I want to wallpaper the kitchen and paint the house.”

And in the latter stages of the pregnancy, when Judith is beginning to get stretch marks and is retaining more water than the Hoover Dam: “I’m so huge and ugly. Don’t look at me! Don’t touch me! I just want to get rid of this THING. I feel trapped. Charles, you did this! I hate your guts!”

The delivery itself should take place in the Birthing Room Kit (sold separately), with Nurse Barbie and Dr. Ken attending.

I would make Judith go through at least 12 hours of labor, and she should be equipped to sweat, scream and perhaps utter a mild curse or two. Charles would be at her side, tiny plastic stopwatch in hand, timing her contractions and helping her breathe through the hard ones.

And for heaven’s sake, let’s manufacture Judith to give birth vaginally. Two decades after putting a man on the moon, I daresay we have the technology. All that’s lacking is the will to be honest about human reproduction.

My final suggestion is to offer a Medical Malpractice Lawyer Kit (sold separately). Giving birth is a risky business, and if things don’t go right, Judith and Charles will want to sue Nurse Barbie and Dr. Ken for every cent they’ve got.