Swimsuit Model Walks the Runway While Breastfeeding Her Daughter

When Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Editor MJ Day saw model Mara Martin breastfeeding her sleeping baby backstage a few minutes before she was supposed to start her runway walk, Day had a sudden and seemingly radical idea…that shouldn’t really be radical at all.

Martin, one of the swimsuit model search finalists walking in a Paraiso x SI Swimsuit runway show in Miami on Sunday night, was ready to take to the runway, and Day couldn’t see any reason to interrupt the nursing session already in progress.

“I asked Mara if she would want to walk and continue to nurse. She said ‘Oh my gosh, yes! Really? Are you sure?’, and I said absolutely!” she told Sports Illustrated. So off Martin went.

The mom modeled a one-shouldered gold bikini while carrying her 5-month-old nursing baby—who sported a green bikini bottom of her own, and noise-canceling headphones to protect her from the show’s loud music.

Martin, who was already thrilled to have been selected as a finalist in Sports Illustrated’s first-ever in-person open casting call, was just as excited about the opportunity to normalize breastfeeding on such a public stage.

“Wow! WHAT A NIGHT! Words can’t even describe how amazing I feel after being picked to walk the runway for @si_swimsuit,” she wrote in an Instagram post. “I can’t believe I am waking up to headlines with me and my daughter in them for doing something I do every day. It is truly so humbling and unreal to say the least. I’m so grateful to be able to share this message and hopefully normalize breastfeeding and also show others that women CAN DO IT ALL!”

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And Day was just as happy to have helped spread the good word. “I loved the idea to be able to allow Mara to keep nursing and further highlight how incredible and beautiful women are,” she said. “For me, I nursed two babies myself, so I find it to be one of the most powerful things the female body can do. It was the easiest decision I have had to make in months."

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