Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate and assess the factors associated with the initiation, progress, and duration of breastfeeding in Greece. Methods: We studied 1010 infants born from 862 women from 1996 to 2000 in 17 hospitals. We followed the mothers for the period January-October 2001, while they were at the maternity hospitals to give birth to their next child. Results: Statistical analysis of the data showed that factors positively associated with the duration of breast-feeding were the appli­cation of rooming-in (p = 0.000 I), the initiation time of breast-feeding - mainly one to six hours after delivery (p = 0.0004), natural delivery (p = 0), pleasant delivery (p = 0.0142), the time the decision about breastfeeding was taken (p = 0), the fact that it was mainly a maternal decision and the mothers were not influenced by a specific person (p = 0.0272) and the fact that no mixed diet was administered (p = 0). Smoking was negatively associated with the duration of breastfeeding (p = 0.0036). Factors not associ­ated with the duration of breastfeeding were: number of the mother's family members (p = 0.1231), whether the women themselves were breastfed as babies (p = 0.03924), some elements of their personality (p = 0.3871) as well as their beliefs concerning mater­nal milk (p = 0.1922). Conclusions: From our results we have indications as to which factors are related or unrelated to the initiation and progress of breastfeeding in Greece.