The state’s first Breastfeeding-Friendly Workplace Awards were bestowed this week, in a Thursday-morning ceremony at the Providence office of Electronic Data Systems, the top award recipient.
Besides EDS, honorees were the American Cancer Society, the Pawtucket Credit Union, the R.I. Department of Health, the R.I. Economic Development Corporation and Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island.
The awards were presented by Dr. David R. Gifford, the state director of health.
“Employers who accomodate breastfeeding … benefit from fewer infant medical expense claims, because of lower rates of infant illness,” Gifford said, “reduced staff turnover and loss of skilled workers after childbirth, higher employer and employee satisfaction, and recognition as family-friendly.”
Breastfeeding employees who are so accomodated are more loyal and productive, he added, and they have fewer missed workdays to care for sick infants, shorter leaves after childbirth, and lower levels of stress than their counterparts at other employers.
To support breastfeeding employees, Gifford suggested employers provide:
flexible work schedules, allowing time to pump breastmilk
a clean, private space (not a toilet stall) for pumping
a sink nearby, where pumping equipment can be cleaned
a refrigerator for storing pumped breastmilk
The awards are a program of the Physician’s Committee for Breastfeeding in Rhode Island, together with the Worksite Wellness Council of Rhode Island and the R.I. Department of Health, which previously had teamed up to advocate for the
R.I. Nursing Working Mothers Act of 2003.
