Gap praised for featuring breastfeeding mother in new campaign

Normalising breastfeeding in the most beautiful way

Gap launches the 'Love by GapBody' collection (Facebook)

Gap has been praised for normalising breastfeeding in its latest campaign by featuring a mother who’s feeding her baby.

Last week, the clothing retailer announced the launch of the “Love by GapBody” collection in the US, which includes a variety of clothing and underwear designed to provide ultimate comfort.

A few days ago, Gap shared a photo from the campaign on its Instagram page that shows a mother nursing her baby and it has received an incredibly positive response online.

The clothing brand has been commended for not only normalising breastfeeding in such an emphatic way, but also for championing diversity by choosing to feature a black mother and child.

The Instagram post currently has almost 35,000 likes, with numerous people expressing their support online.

“Way to go, Gap! Congratulations on featuring a black breastfeeding dyad in your ad campaign,” one person wrote on Twitter. “Absolutely beautiful.”

“@Gap damn boo, you have the most comfy pj’s AND you’re normalising breastfeeding?!”, another Twitter user remarked.

While many have applauded Gap for illustrating how beautiful and normal breastfeeding is, many mothers who breastfeed in public are still made to feel ashamed and embarrassed.

That’s why in December last year, a group called Chocolate Milk Mommies organised a photoshoot that showcased black mothers breastfeeding their babies.

Their aim was to break the stigma that deters some mothers in the black community from doing so.

Shantae McGee, a registered nurse and certified lactation counselor, encourages black mothers to breastfeed through her blog and Instagram page Black Moms Breastfeed.

In 2012, Black Breastfeeding Week was created in an effort to reduce the infant mortality rate of black babies and to move away from the association often made between black mothers breastfeeding and slavery, as many female slaves acted as wet nurses for their oppressors.

The Independent has reached out to Gap for comment on their new campaign.