BabyTalk, a pretty mainstream mag, has a breastfeeding infant on the cover of its August issue!

Here’s a bit of the cover article:

You’ve heard it by now: A mom should breastfeed her baby for at least the first year of life, as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Today, more new moms than ever try to nurse. In 2004, the most recent year for which government statistics are available, about 70 percent of U.S. mothers reported that they had tried breastfeeding, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That’s up from 55 percent in 1993.

But then consider this: At 6 months, only 36 percent were still nursing. At 12 months, the number dips to 17 percent — fewer than one in five mothers. While moms know that breastfeeding gives babies the best start in life, legions of them find it difficult — if not downright impossible — to nurse longer than six months, let alone up to the one-year milestone.

You can read the rest on their site here.

According to an article from Yahoo News, not everyone was as thrilled as I am to see this magazine cover:

NEW YORK - “I was SHOCKED to see a giant breast on the cover of your magazine,” one person wrote. “I immediately turned the magazine face down,” wrote another. “Gross,” said a third.

These readers weren’t complaining about a sexually explicit cover, but rather one of a baby nursing, on a wholesome parenting magazine — yet another sign that Americans are squeamish over the sight of a nursing breast, even as breast-feeding itself gains greater support from the government and medical community.

As if nursing isn’t wholesome? Harumph. I don’t get BabyTalk anymore (I let my free subscription run out, since Maya’s no longer an infant), but will shoot them a note of encouragement.