Hills-Bonczyk, Avery, Savik, Potter & Duckett, 1993; Humphreys, Thompson & Miner,1998; Janke, 1993; Leff, Schriefer, Hogan, & DeMarco, 1995; Wright, Bauer, Naylor, Sutcliffe & Clarke, 1998). The brevity of a postpartum hospitalization, which results in mothers being discharged before breastfeeding is well established, impacts the continuation of breastfeeding. Consequently, these mothers are in need of more consistent, expert, and immediate assistance with breastfeeding from health professionals (Caulfield et al., 1998; Hart, Bax & Jenkins, 1980; Houston, Howie, Cook & McNeilly, 1981; Humenick, Hill & Spiegelberg, 1998; Janke, 1993; Jenner, 1988; Leff et al., 1995; Morrow et al.,1999; Pugh & Milligan, 1998; Saunders & Carrol, 1988; Schafer, Vogel, Viegas & Hausafus, 1998; Sciacca, Dube, Phipps & Rafliff, 1995a; Serafino-Cross & Donovan, 1992; Wright et al., 1998). There are conflicting views in the literature, however, regarding the optimal 26 Breastfeeding Best Practice Guidelines for Nurses length of a postpartum hospital stay and the subsequent impact on breastfeeding. Some of the various strategies that promote and support breastfeeding have been identified in the literature and include prenatal and postnatal education, home visiting, telephone advice lines, peer support and incentives. Several research studies have identified variables that influence the rate of breastfeeding. A few of the variables are amenable to intervention, whereas others cannot be modified. Some non-modifiable variables include race, social class, ethnicity, education, marital status, age, and previous breastfeeding history, including whether the mother was breastfed as an infant. The following are variables that can be responsive to interventions: breastfeeding intention, timing of first feeding, commitment to breastfeeding, attitude towards breastfeeding, cultural ideology, exposure to women who breastfed and social support system. Conflicting results have been reported in the literature regarding the relationship between parity, prenatal class attendance and maternal employment status and breastfeeding (Arlotti, Cottrell, Lee & Curtin, 1998; Brent, Redd, Dworetz, D’Amico & Greenberg, 1995; Duckett, 1992; Giugliani, Caiaffa, Vogelhut, Witter & Perman, 1994; Hart et al., 1980; Hill, 1987; Humphreys et al., 1998; Janke, 1993; Jenner, 1988; Leff et al., 1995; Piper & Parks, 1996; Sciacca, Phipps, Dube & Rafliff, 1995b, Wilmoth & Elder, 1995). There are two main outcome measures identified in the breastfeeding literature: duration of breastfeeding and incidence of breastfeeding (Arlotti et al., 1998; Brent et al., 1995; Duckett, 1992; Giugliani et al., 1994; Hart et al., 1980; Hill, 1987; Houston et al., 1981; Humenick et al., 1998; Humphreys et al., 1998; Janke, 1993; Leff et al., 1995; Michelman, Faden, Gielen & Buxton, 1990; Morrow et al., 1999; Piper & Parks, 1996; Pugin, Valdes, Labbok, Perez & Aravena, 1996; Saunders & Carroll, 1988; Sciacca et al., 1995a; SerafinoCross & Donovan, 1992; Wright et al., 1998). Incidence of breastfeeding is usually measured at the time the mother is discharged from the hospital, whereas duration of breastfeeding is most commonly measured at 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 3 months and 6 months postpartum (Hart et al., 1980; Morrow et al., 1999; Piper & Parks, 1996; Saunders & Carroll, 1988; Wilmoth & Elder, 1995). Breastfeeding studies cite various definitions of the measurement of duration. Arlotti et al. (1998) defined breastfeeding duration as the length of time from initiation until the infant receives no breast-milk. Other researchers distinguished between predominate breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding where exclusivity was defined as providing only breast-milk and excluding all supplements (Arlotti et al., 1998; Bender, Dusch & McCann, 1998; Hills-Bonczyk et al., 1993; Morrow et al., 1999; Wilmoth & Elder, 1995). Wilmoth and Elder (1995) used breastfeeding indicators recommended by WHO: exclusive breastfeeding rate; predominant breastfeeding rate; timely, 27 Nursing Best Practice Guideline complimentary feeding rate; continued breastfeeding rate; and bottle-feeding rate. Wright et al. (1998) selected the following categories to measure breastfeeding duration: never breastfed, breastfed and formula {artificial baby milk} fed from birth, exclusively breastfed for any period of time, and exclusively breastfed (i.e., never formula {artificial baby milk} fed). Whereas Piper and Parks (1996) viewed breastfeeding duration from two different categories: breastfed up to 6 months and breastfed longer than 6 months. In the studies reviewed, the duration of breastfeeding was compared with a variety of independent variables including maternal employment (Duckett, 1992; Jenner, 1988), peer counsellors (Arlotti et al., 1998; Saunders & Carroll, 1988), health professionals (Hill, 1987; Houston et al., 1981; Humenick et al., 1998; Leff et al., 1995; Michelman, Faden, Gielen & Buxton, 1990; Pastore & Nelson, 1997; Serafino-Cross & Donovan, 1992), breastfeeding education (Arlotti et al., 1998; Brent et al., 1995; Sciacca et al., 1995a), and social support (Giugliani et al., 1994; Humphreys et al., 1998; Sciacca et al., 1995a). Duckett (1992) and Humphreys et al. (1998) identified breastfeeding intention as an overall outcome indicator that is measured antenatally. Humphreys et al. (1998) have