Breastfeeding shouldn’t be taboo – but, unfortunately, it still is. Women are still routinely shamed for breastfeeding in public, and earlier this year Chrissy Teigen was forced to defend herself after posting a photo of herself topless and breastfeeding her baby. 

So a brilliant, refreshing picture of actress Rachel McAdams wearing a breast pump has certainly made waves. 

Appearing on the cover of fashion magazine Girls, Girls, Girls, McAdams looks defiantly at the camera as she wears a breast pump and expresses milk.

Because, as Claire Rothstein, editor of the magazine McAdams appears in, put it: “Breastfeeding is the most normal thing in the world”. 

“I can’t for the life of me imagine why or how it is ever frowned upon or scared of,” writes Rothstein on Instagram. 

Then, in a bid to help users understand the story behind the image, she continues: “I don’t even think it needs explaining, but just wanted to put this out there, as if it even changes one person’s perception of something so natural, so normal, so amazing then that’s great.”

“Besides, she’s wearing Versace and Bulgari diamonds and is just f*cking major. Big shout out to all the girls.”

Rothstein credits McAdams with the idea, though acknowledges that the pair had a “mutual appreciation disagreement” about whose idea it is. “But I’m pretty sure it was hers,” notes the editor, “which makes me love her even more.”

Unsurprisingly, the internet has gone absolutely wild at the shoot. 

Check out the responses below:

Meanwhile, Giovanna Fletcher, wife of McFly star Tom, has praised McAdams in her own Instagram post, calling the photo “so powerful”.

“Expressing milk is something I knew nothing about before becoming a mum,” she writes. “When I first did it I felt like a cow with udders. I still feel like that at times but three babies in and I’ve got used to the grrr grrrr grrrr of the pump and just get on with it.”

“It’s great having this picture start such a big conversation around working mums and our milk supply!”

Earlier this year, model Valerie Garcia made history when she used a breastpump on the runway at London Fashion Week – so it looks like things could be changing in this area. As Rothstein writes, breastfeeding should be normal – it’s a part of the lives of many, many women. 

We can only hope that McAdams’ shoot will normalise it even further. 

Image: Getty