Breastfeeding

Erin Bertoldi
State Breastfeeding Coordinator

WIC - Women, Infants and Children Nutrition Education Program

Breastfeeding Friendly Workplace Award

Recognition as a Breastfeeding-Friendly Workplace is based on the successful establishment of supportive policies, facilities and resources for breastfeeding employees and clients.

Employers may complete and return the award submission questionnaire to be eligible for recognition at the Bronze, Silver or Gold level. Review of the questionnaire and a follow-up site visit by a Corporate Lactation Specialist will determine the level of award based on the number of demonstrated strategies.

Award Criteria

Bronze = 1-5 strategies
Silver = 6-10 strategies
Gold = 11-15 strategies

Timeline

May 15: Survey submission deadline
June 30: Site visit completion
TBD by recipient: Award ceremony

Workplaces identified as Breastfeeding-Friendly are posted here and promoted through the media around the time that the awards are presented. Award presentations are scheduled at the convenience of award recipients. The award is jointly coordinated and presented by the Department of Health and the Rhode Island Breastfeeding Coalition. Previously recognized workplaces may reapply for a higher level of recognition in a subsequent year.

Award Recipient Profiles

The American Cancer Society (Bronze 2006)
The American Cancer Society is a nationwide, community-based voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem through research, education, advocacy, and service.

Provides both a lockable patient education room that ensures privacy for employees who wish to express breast milk and a refrigerator for the storage of expressed milk.
Distributes a written policy supporting breastfeeding to all employees.

Bellani Maternity (Gold 2014)
Bellani Maternity has had a history of supporting its nursing employees and clients since opening in 2006. As a retail maternity store, they have always had an atmosphere that supports new mothers in all their endeavors. Bellani provides the following accommodations:

Has a written policy that is provided upon hire and posted for all employees to view.
Allows employees to bring their babies, up to 6-months-old, to work with them and nurse while working.
Offers work schedule flexibility.
Promotes client breastfeeding in public spaces by proudly displaying the “Breastfeeding Welcome Here” window decal at the entrance.
Has a private room that both employees and clients can use for either pumping or nursing, with a sink nearby.
The owner, who is a Certified Lactation Counselor, provides lactation support to her employees and encourages them to nurse upon returning to work.
Makes available hospital-grade breast pumps for employees to use, if they need them.

Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island (Silver 2007)
Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island provides its members with peace of mind and improved health by representing them in their pursuit of affordable, high-quality healthcare.

Distributes a written policy to all employees outlining breastfeeding organizational support.
Maintains designated breastfeeding rooms in 2 of its 6 buildings
Provides access to a sink and refrigerator.
Supports flexible scheduling to allow employees to pump during the workday.
Posts benefits of breastfeeding on the employee website and in both lactation rooms.

Brown University(Silver 2012)

Has a policy,Nursing Mothers in the Workplace, to support the health and well being of employees and their infant children. Fulfills this policy by providing a workplace that supports and encourages the decision of female employees to breastfeed and express breast milk when they return to work.
Established three privacy rooms for nursing employees and clients that each include a lockable door, lighting, outlets, a table, and comfortable seating with a sink nearby.
Offers a flexible work schedule and accessible childcare that supports breastfeeding at the Mt. Hope YMCA and Meeting Street School.
Promotes its written breastfeeding policy and the benefits of breastfeeding to all employees campus-wide.

Bryant University(Silver 2012)

Accommodates breastfeeding with a written lactation policy and a flexible work schedule.
Promotes the benefits of breastfeeding to all employees through its HR Connections website.
Has two designated lactation rooms, one in health services and another in a building centrally located on campus, The rooms are available to employees and campus visitors, and are frequently used by both.

EDS (Gold 2006)
EDS provides a broad portfolio of business and technology solutions to help its clients worldwide improve their business performance.

Provides a dedicated lockable mother’s room for employees and clients. The room has a sink plus literature and audio-visual materials that expectant or new moms and dads can borrow.
Distributes a written breastfeeding policy to all employees, provides information on the benefits of breastfeeding, and refers employees to a lactation consultant as needed.
Provides employees with a bag and a pumping kit to use with their Lactina pump.

Gennaro Inc. (Bronze 2014)
A multi-generational, family-owned and operated company, Gennaro, Inc. has been creating the most current trends and fashion-forward designs in the costume jewelry industry for more than 25 years. Located in Cranston, the company has 42 employees, 85% of which are women of childbearing age. Gennaro, Inc. provides the following accommodations for their nursing employees:

Has a written policy outlining the organizational support for breastfeeding employees.
Offers work schedule flexibility.
Has an accessible, clean, private, and safe space in their executive rest room where employees can pump breast milk; a table and chair is provided.
Has a functioning sink in the rest room where employees can clean pumping equipment.

Gennaro, Inc. has also applied for and received a mini grant of $1000 from the Rhode Island Breastfeeding Coalition. The company plans to use the funds to purchase a hospital grade double electric breast pump and pump kits for its employees to use while pumping at work.

Landmark Medical Center (Silver 2007)
Landmark Medical Center is committed to providing health and human services with the highest ethical and quality standards and to providing care with integrity and compassion for all patients.

Offers employees flexible work schedules to allow pumping during the workday.
The Human Resources Department helps breastfeeding employees identify a clean, safe and private place to pump with a sink and refrigerator nearby.
Provides employees with a hospital-grade breast pump to use in the workplace.
On-staff Lactation Consultants assist employees with any breastfeeding challenges.
Hospital clients are welcome to breastfeed in public places.

Lifespan (Gold and Silver 2007, Gold 2012)
Lifespan, a not-for-profit organization, strives to improve the health status of Rhode Islanders through the provision of customer friendly, geographically accessible, and high value health services. The Lifespan system includes Rhode Island Hospital / Hasbro Children's Hospital, The Miriam Hospital, Newport Hospital, Emma Pendleton Bradley Hospital, and Lifespan Corporate Services.

Offers work schedule flexibility
Distributes a written policy outlining breastfeeding organizational support to all employees.
All five Lifespan partners provide employees with access to a sink and to a safe, clean, private space where they can pump or express breastmilk.
When possible, accommodates employees to breastfeed young babies in the workplace.
All Lifespan Hospitals allow clients to breastfeed in public spaces.

Emma Pendleton Bradley Hospital and Lifespan Corporate Services

Provides breastfeeding rooms for their employees and clients.
Distributes information on the benefits of breastfeeding to all employees.

Forensic Risk Alliance (Bronze 2014)
Forensic Risk Alliance is an expert provider of international eDiscovery solutions, data protection advice and forensic accounting services. An international corporation, Forensic Risk supports its employees by making the following accommodations at its Providence location:

Offers work schedule flexibility.
Provides routine breastfeeding benefit promotion to all employees upon hire.
Has a private and clean breastfeeding space, accessible to both clients and employees.

Gencorp Insurance Group (Bronze 2014)
Gencorp Insurance Group is a regional, multifaceted financial services agency serving the needs of individuals, businesses and insurance professionals. Although they do not have a written lactation policy, they have always provided the time and space for their breastfeeding mothers to pump as long as they want to. In their East Greenwich office, they support their breastfeeding employees in the following ways:

Offers work schedule flexibility so that employees can schedule breaks and work patterns to provide time so that they can breastfeed their babies, or pump breastmilk, during their workday.
Provides an accessible, clean, private, and safe space, other than a toilet stall, where employees can express or pump breastmilk.
Has access to a functioning sink in proximity to the pumping space so employees can clean pumping equipment.

Hasbro Children's Hospital
Hasbro Children’s Hospital has worked hard to increase their support of breastfeeding employees since first winning a Silver award in 2007.

Implemented a lactation policy that provides flexibility in the nursing employee’s schedule.
Established a beautifully furnished, designated lactation room with a sink on the 4th floor of the hospital.
Provides lactation support to all employees who need it through the hospital’s CLCs and Newport’s IBCLCs.
Provides both employees and mothers of patients with a pump kit and access to a hospital grade pump.
Routinely distributes its lactation policy and promotes breastfeeding to all employees through email blasts, their intranet, new employee orientation, benefit fairs, flyers, and various employee events.
Has posted “Breastfeeding Welcome Here” decals and signage throughout the building to make hospital visitors aware of their ability to nurse their babies anywhere in the hospital.

The Miriam Hospital

The Miriam Hospital has had many great changes in its provision of lactation support since winning a silver Breastfeeding-Friendly Workplace Award in 2007.

Thanks to the advocacy of the MomDocFamily group, Miriam now has three great mother’s rooms outside of the Emergency Room, the Operating Rooms and in the RISE building. Each room has a sink nearby and visitors to the hospital are also welcome to use the space.
Promotes the ability of clients to breastfeed in public spaces.
The benefits of breastfeeding are promoted to all employees and lactation support is available to those who need it.

Rhode Island Hospital

Lifespan works within each department to identify space for employees to pump.

Newport Hospital

Sends, to each new parent, a congratulations card that includes information on the Lactation Support program.
Allows breastfeeding employees to utilize the maternity floor, where they have continual access to both a private room and a hospital-grade pump.
Sponsors Lactation Consultant services for all breastfeeding employees
Offers employees a weekly support group facilitated by a Lactation Consultant.

Pawtucket Credit Union (Bronze 2006)
The Pawtucket Credit Union provides unparalleled value in products, services and rates and is committed to the well being of its membership, the communities it serves, and its employees

Maintains a mother’s room that is close to a sink and refrigerator and includes a spacious lounge. Provides employees with flexibility to use the room as needed.

Raytheon IDS Seapower Capability Center (Bronze 2008)
Raytheon Company’s Integrated Defense Systems Seapower Capability Center is dedicated to the development and delivery of critical seapower capabilities to the global joint battlespace.

At their Portsmouth location, Raytheon maintains three designated breastfeeding rooms, with functioning sinks nearby. The rooms are monitored by the Health Center’s Registered Nurse, who is available to assist with room scheduling.
Provides information on the benefits of breastfeeding to all employees.
Sponsors the services of a lactation consultant for their breastfeeding employees.

Rhode Island Department of Administration (Silver 2008)
The mission of the Rhode Island Department of Administration is to provide top quality customer service, administrative, and financial management services to internal and external customers.

Provides a clean, comfortable, and secure mother’s room that contains a refrigerator, magazines and nursing accessories available to pumping mothers.
Distributes its breastfeeding policy to all employees.
Promotes the benefits of breastfeeding and the availability of the mother’s room to all female employees.
Provides work schedule flexibility and on-site childcare, further accommodating breastfeeding.

Rhode Island Department of Health (Silver 2006)
The primary mission of the Rhode Island Department of Health (HEALTH) is to prevent disease and to protect and promote the health and safety of the people of Rhode Island.

Provides a designated, private breastfeeding room with a sink, a refrigerator, and breastfeeding resources. Mothers returning to work receive a key for as long as they wish to use the room.
Maintains a comprehensive policy that provides for a flexible work schedule.
Promotes the importance of supporting breastfeeding mothers as they plan their maternity leave and return to work.
A breastfeeding employee who used the room reported that, "Access to the breastfeeding room here at HEALTH was crucial to my ability to return to work full time. Choosing between supporting my family financially and breastfeeding my baby would have been an excruciating decision and I feel fortunate to not to have had to make it."

Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation (Bronze 2006)
The mission of The Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation is to strengthen the Rhode Island economy through policies, programs, and projects that enhance and enrich the business environment for public and private sectors to create prosperity for all Rhode Islanders.

Provides a Mother's Room, located close to a sink and refrigerator, for which each mother has her own key.
Employees do not have to use their breaks or lunchtime to pump.

Rhode Island Medical Imaging (Silver 2010)
Rhode Island Medical Imaging provides CT cat scan and MRI radiology medical services to Rhode Island hospitals.

At eight locations throughout the state, provides an accessible, clean, private, and safe place for employees to pump.
Posts, at all sites, a written breastfeeding policy outlining organizational support.
Distributes breastfeeding policy to all new employees.
Offers work schedule flexibility.
Clients are free to breastfeed in public spaces, as publicized by the "Breastfeeding Welcome Here" sticker provided by RIBC.

Rhode Island Parent Information Network(Bronze 2012)

The Rhode Island Parent Information Network provides information, support, and training to help all Rhode Islanders become their own best advocates at school, in healthcare, and in all areas of life.

At their administrative offices in Cranston, both breastfeeding employees and clients can contact Human Resources to receive assistance in finding an available, clean and private space to nurse or pump.
Makes the services of their staff IBCLCs available to both their clients and employees.
Offers employees work schedule flexibility to pump as needed.

South County Hospital (Gold 2007)
South County Hospital is an independent, non-profit, 100-bed acute care hospital at the center of South County Hospital Healthcare System. The first Baby-Friendly Hospital in Rhode Island, South County Hospital has a long history of supporting breastfeeding in the workplace.

Distributes a written policy outlining organizational support and the benefits of breastfeeding to all employees.
Allows employees to bring young babies into work with them.
Clients are free to breastfeed in public spaces.
Maintains a private room for employees and clients to use while pumping and has a hospital-grade breast pump and a refrigerator available for employee use.
The hospital's health insurance plan covers home and office visits with a Lactation Consultant, a manual pump, and a hospital grade pump when medically necessary.

Summer Infant (Silver 2012)

A leader in the manufacture and design of infant products, Summer Infant, Inc. has a long-standing tradition of dedication to infants and children and prides itself on its family friendly culture.

Has a written policy regarding lactation breaks and provides a flexible work schedule.
Offers a designated lactation room that is frequently use by employees for pumping, as well as a spacious meeting room available to visiting vendors, partners and mothers that is frequently used for nursing babies on site.
Accessible childcare that supports breastfeeding is located in the industrial park that houses Summer Infant's headquarters.

T&R Services LLC (Bronze 2014)
T&R Services LLC offers tax accounting services and is an insurance agency servicing a predominately Spanish speaking clientele. The owner, Heber Recinos, provides the following accommodations for his employees:

Promotes the benefits of breastfeeding, and encourages employees to continue to breastfeed after returning to work.
Allows employees to leave for an extended lunch so that they can go to their babies to nurse them.
Has access to one of two private offices that employees can use to pump; one office is always available.
Provides access to an adjacent bathroom and/or kitchen sink that employees can use to clean pump parts.

The University of Rhode Island (Gold 2009)
The University of Rhode Island provides lactation support to students, faculty, and staff on four campuses located across the state.

Clean, comfortable, private lactation rooms are available on the Kingston, Narragansett Bay, and Feinstein Providence Campuses.
Distributes and posts a lactation policy.
Provides flexible schedules for employees who provide adequate notice of their need for lactation support and facilities.
Grant funds are available through 2011 to hire a lactation consultant on request.
Allows women who did not receive a pump kit in the hospital to purchase one through the URI Advance office.
Offers a parenting lending library to student and employee parents, schedules regular brown bag lunches with speakers discussing topics relevant to young families, and is forming a new mother’s support group.

Westerly Hospital (Gold 2009)

Maintains a new lactation room located near the Women’s Health Center, a Baby Friendly maternity wing known for its high level of personalized care.
Provides employees with access to a hospital grade breast pump to use at work and provides a discount on Medela breast pumps and accessories.
Employees can take advantage of the services of Health Center lactation consultants and can participate in the Breastfeeding Support Group held on Saturday mornings.
Distributes and promotes a written Nursing Working Mothers Policy, that allows for a flexible work schedule to accommodate pumping mothers.
Shares breastfeeding benefit information with employees through an internal newsletter and a new employee information packet.

Women’s Medical Collaborative (Silver 2014)
Helping women reach their greatest health potential in body, mind and spirit, the Women’s Medicine Collaborative is dedicated to meeting the unique health care needs of women 18 years and older. All services are provided in a single location, in the center of the city of Providence in a historic mill building, making it easy for women to access the care they need all under one roof.
As a premier healthcare practice, the Women's Medicine Collaborative strives to provide support for their employees as well. Their employee lactation program offers the following amenities to their staff:

Has a written policy that is available on the Lifespan WorkLife website, distributed at employee benefits fairs and health fairs, and mailed to employees on maternity leave.
Offers work schedule flexibility.
Promotes client's ability to breastfeed in public spaces by using the “Breastfeeding Welcome Here” window decals.
Has a designated breastfeeding room with proximate sink access that is available to both clients and employees.

Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island (Bronze 2006, Gold 2012)
Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island is one of the nation's leading specialty hospitals for women and newborns and is the eighth largest obstetrical service in the country with nearly 10 thousand deliveries per year.

Set up three designated lactation rooms as part of a facility expansion in 2010. Each room has a hospital grade electric breast pump for employees to use while at work and a sink available in the room or in close proximity.
Welcomes visitors to use these rooms as well as to breastfeed their babies in public places, as promoted by posted signs and “Breastfeeding Welcome Here” decals.
Offers work schedule flexibility, a refrigerator for storage of pumped milk, and a kit for its employees to use with the pump.
Supports employees with a flexible schedule and the opportunity to have their babies brought to work to breastfeed.
Provides lactation consultant services for all employees who need assistance.
Is drafting a formal policy to solidify their supportive breastfeeding culture.