Young mum's breastfeeding graduation photo goes viral

"You don't have to give up the career to have kids" is the message from graduate Jacci Sharkey.

A young mum's graduation photo - in which she is pictured breastfeeding her six-week-old son - has gone viral in her native Australia as social media users respond to her message that women need not choose between career and motherhood.

The picture of Queensland native Jacci Sharkey breastfeeding her son Alex while wearing mortarboard and gown during her graduation ceremony has received over 170,000 likes since being posted to the Facebook page of the University of the Sunshine Coast yesterday.

"I'm extremely proud that with the support of the Uni, during my degree I was able to have 2 babies and still finish my degree," the university quoted Sharkey, 24, as saying.

The message - with the hashtag #itcanbedone - has struck a chord with many on social media and led news outlets to seek Sharkey out.

"I never expected it to go crazy. I thought I'd be really happy if it got 100 likes and then it's just gone out of control," she told ABC Australia.

Ms Sharkey, who studied HR and marketing, said the photo was not intended as a comment on breastfeeding but as a "thank you" to the university, and was also aimed at showing other mothers, or mothers-to-be, that family and education were both possible.

"It wasn't a statement [on breastfeeding] or anything like that," ABC quoted her as saying.

"I would have sent the same picture to the uni had he [Alek] had a bottle or a sandwich.

"It was just the fact that I'm a mum, it's not I'm a breastfeeding mum, just I'm a mum."

Both Alek and Jacci's other son Ari (20 months) were born while she was in college, and the university had supported her in many ways including by allowing her to take Alek to lectures.

"You don't have to give up the career to have kids and you don't have to give up kids to have the career," she said.

"You can have it all."