Model Nicole Trunfio has ruffled a few feathers with her latest photo shoot for Australian Elle.

The 29-year-old graces the cover of the fashion bible whilst breastfeeding 4-month-old son Zion.

The proud mum shared the image on her Instagram page, writing alongside it: "There is nothing more powerful and beautiful than motherhood. The last thing I want to do is be controversial, so please take this for what it is, let us #normalizebreastfeeding there is nothing worse than a mother that is judged for feeding her hungry child in public. #weareonlyhuman.

"I'm so proud of this cover and for what it's stands for. I obviously don't look like this while I am breastfeeding but this stands for all women out there, whether you breastfeed or not, we gave birth, we are women, we are mothers.

Thank you to ELLE for being so bold and making such an encouraging, positive and healthy statement. #womenunite"

The shot of her feeding her baby won’t appear on newsstands. Instead an alternative cover of her holding her baby whilst wearing a black dress will be seen on newsagent shelves.

Editor in chief Justine Cullen says that the image was unplanned, only coming about when Nicole’s son became hungry during the shoot.

She explained to Fairfax Media: "This wasn't a contrived situation, Zion needed a feed, Nicole gave it to him, and when we saw how beautiful they looked we simply moved her onto the set.”

"It was a completely natural moment that resulted in a powerful picture."