WARWICK -- Some women sit in their cars. Others are forced into closets. And as they have for years, many lock themselves in bathroom stalls.

But at Electronic Data Systems, in a quiet spot near the first-floor conference room, mothers freely pump breast milk from a locked room equipped with a reclining massage chair, mood lighting, aroma therapy, and a miniature fountain.

"Some companies say to women, 'Here's a folding chair, go find a closet,' " said Gail Davis, the wellness coordinator for Electronic Data Systems. "Years ago I had to go into a stall in the ladies room. People would pound on the door and say, 'What did you, fall in?' It wasn't comfortable or private."

But things in Rhode Island are starting to change.

Warwick-based Electronic Data Systems received a gold medal yesterday at the state Department of Health Breastfeeding-Friendly Workplace Awards, where six businesses were recognized for their efforts to accommodate working mothers who choose to breastfeed.

Women, who return to work in their child's first year for financial reasons, must decide either to stop breastfeeding or to use breast pumps during the work day. A woman's body will stop producing milk if it's not extracted at regular intervals throughout the day, according to Erin Dugan, state breastfeeding coordinator for the Health Department.

"It's really critical to the ongoing health of the child," she said of breastfeeding, while noting it's difficult for some working women to find the time and a good place to pump while at work.

A state law passed in recent years requires employers to "make a reasonable effort to provide a private, secure and sanitary room . . . other than a toilet stall, where an employee can express her milk or breastfeed her child."

But Dugan acknowledged that the law has no teeth.

"I would like to say a lot of companies do it," she said. "But I think that a lot fewer companies do it than should."

The six workplaces honored yesterday include the American Cancer Society, the Pawtucket Credit Union, the state Department of Health, the state Economic Development Corporation, and Women & Infants Hospital.

By getting top honors, Electronic Data Systems, which processes claims for Medicaid, also won a hospital-grade electric breast pump worth about $1,000. The company had already provided free bags and pumping kits to women; now it can offer a pump as well.

Davis said the special room, which also doubles as an employee relaxation room when it's not needed for pumping or breastfeeding, serves as an effective recruiting tool. It also encourages women to return to work after giving birth sooner than they might at other workplaces.

The Health Department held its award ceremony yesterday inside Electronic Data Systems' Service Avenue office building so that representatives of the other workplaces could see the black velour recliner and the trickling fountain inside the private room.

"This award ceremony and this process is inspiring employers," she said. "Now there's a new incentive."

speoples@projo.com / (401) 277-7459