Objective To explore the effect of family empowerment based nursing intervention on breastfeeding behavior of primiparous women. Methods In the prospective nonconcurrent experimental design, 38 primiparous women who registered in the hospital in April through June, 2020 were assigned into the routine group, another 39 women who registered in July through October, 2020. The former group received routine nursing care, while the latter group was subjective to family empowerment based nursing intervention. The differences in breastfeeding knowledge, family support, breastfeeding self-efficacy, and exclusive breastfeeding rates were observed and compared between the two groups. Results One week after delivery, breastfeeding knowledge and family support scores in the intervention group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P<0.01 for both). Breast-feeding self-efficacy scores were significantly higher in the intervention group than the control group 1 week, 1 month, and 6 months after delivery; likewise the rate of exclusive breastfeeding at 1 month, and 6 months post partum (P<0.01 for all). Conclusion Family empowerment based nursing intervention can improve breastfeeding self-efficacy of primiparas and increase the rate of exclusive breastfeeding.