Picture via Instagram
The stigma associated with breastfeeding publicly still exists in our society, despite attempts by celebrities and your everyday mums to eliminate it.
Now American retailer Gap is doing its part to break down this social barrier.
The moment happened purely by chance. The campaign's model, Adaora Akubilo, was posing with her son, 20-month-old Arinze, to advertise sleepwear. During the shoot, Arinze needed to nurse, like any young child.
"I let them know,” the Nigerian-American model told the Chicago Tribune, “They’re like, ‘Oh, my God, of course, it’s OK, go ahead.’ And they said, ‘You can do it right here.'"
She herself is at ease breastfeeding wherever she needs to.
"I’m so comfortable just nursing my son anywhere. If my son needs to nurse, I’m going to nurse him," the mum stated simply.
The photographer asked if they could take a picture of her breastfeeding, and Adaora agreed. The resulting snap resonated with many breastfeeding mums who have longed to see the act portrayed in such a natural way.
Comments on Instagram were overwhelmingly positive.
"Just beautiful. #normalizebreastfeeding," commented one person.
There were a few, though, who didn't like breastfeeding being in the ad.
"There are lots of things that we do that are natural. Nursing a little baby is beautiful! But, I don’t need to see it in ads everywhere," one person tweeted.
Others focused on the fact that the mum featured was a woman of colour and appreciated that a black woman was shown breastfeeding.
"This is absolutely beautiful and so important. For breastfeeding mothers, women of colour, and people everywhere to whom this imagery has rarely been shown, this is a gift. Thank you."
There were a number of comments with that same sentiment, as black women have been statistically less likely to breastfeed than their white or Hispanic counterparts in the U.S.
2012 figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that in the States, 66 percent of black mums choose to breastfeed.
This is more than in past years but is still less than the 75 percent of white women and 80 percent of Hispanic women who breastfeed.
Black mums also don't continue to breastfeed as often, with 27 percent of black women still breastfeeding when their child is six months old compared to 44 percent of women overall.
What do you think of the new Gap ad, mums?
