The purpose of this study was to ascertain those behaviors and persons that were perceived as emotionally supportive by breast-feeding mothers prior to and following the birth of their babies. An interview schedule was administered to 27 breast-feeding mothers from a large metropolitan hospital one month after their postpartum stay. The two categories identified by the researcher from the mothers' descriptions of emotional support were behaviors and adjectives. Persons identified as most supportive were husbands, mothers' parents, and friends. Other relatives demonstrated lesser degrees of support. Health professionals were found to be the least supportive by the mothers. Psychological support factors greatly outweighed the physical aspects of support both prenatally and postnatally, although there was a slight increase in physical support factors during the postpartum period. Over half of the mothers (60%) did not perceive themselves as receiving adequate emotional support in their decision to breast-feed. These mothers found support lacking in such areas as encouragement, information, and assistance with breastfeeding techniques.