If a I ever have a second DC, I wish I could have the courage to decide to switch to formula a lot sooner than I did with DS. Maybe I should just bottle feed from birth for the sake of my mental health and bonding with DC.
With DS, my milk came in late (day 6, because of ECS and beginnings of PND), so my body forever struggled to catch up with DS's relentless demands. He screamed while trying to such an empty breast for hours. The latch and everything was right. Finally the nurses convinced me to give DS formula after 2 days of sleepless screaming and crying from us both. I tried to increase my supply desperately by pumping my breasts after every feed, after topping DS up with formula. I developed repetitive strain injury in my hand from the pumping and was an absolute and near-psychotic wreck, addled with guilt and crippling sleep deprivation, as DH couldn't help with the feeds.
After 2 months of this I was finally able to mostly ditch the bottles, but then DS developed severe silent reflux and absolutely refused to breastfeed. I offered bottles, which, bizarrely, he eagerly drank from, at which point I though "fuck this - I have tried my best", and stopped even trying to breastfeed.
I think breast was definitely the worst rather than the best for us, although I'm sure that some would say that I should have just persevered no matter what. I think all the guilt was a factor in my PND and severely hindered my bonding with DS (who I, during the first nightmareish weeks, only saw as a leech-like parasitic monster). I only managed to avoid hospitalisation through the help of DH, who was able to support me at home on most days at the detriment of his business.
You never know what people's reasons for stopping or never beginning breastfeeding actually are, as they might not want to tell you about physical or psychological problems.