WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, ELLYWA
The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, an independent organization of physicians that promote breastfeeding, has issued a statement criticizing Time Magazine for its provocative cover photograph depicting a 26-year-old mother breastfeeding her 3-year-old son. The cover has triggered “widespread and damaging misinformation about biological norms for breastfeeding,” according to the statement.
All major medical organizations recommend at least 6 months of exclusive breastfeeding and many encourage breastfeeding beyond infancy, said the ABM. Additionally, there is no scientific basis to claims that breastfeeding beyond infancy is harmful to mother or infant. Yet many readers reacted to the Time cover with disgust at the idea of a breastfeeding 3-year-old: the Atlantic Wire called the image “PG-13,” and The Right Scoop went so far as to call it “soft ...
