wow cyber, you definitely deserve a cup of tea and a sit down this weekend after all that. How can someone get something so important so wrong! That tech and that clinic should be ashamed.
Moomin we're all here to support you whatever you choose. From what I can see yes there are health benefits from breast feeding but nothing is worse for a child's wellbeing than an upset, stressed, exhausted mummy. My experience of breastfeeding was this:
good sides - I won't bore you with the health benefits as enough people will probably chew your ear off about that. The weight fell off me. It's free. It's a lot easier to whip a boob out at 2am than make up and heat a bottle. It felt really nice, really special (but then I don't see why bottle feeding wouldn't be the same, I'm sure another of the already-mums on here could give her bottle feeding perspective)
bad sides - DS and I didn't get it right for a long time which meant I got very painful boobs, I really wish I'd asked for more help and I almost had to quit. Doing it in front of men I knew was really uncomfortable so I always had to slink off to the bedroom/bathroom. DS wouldn't take expressed milk so I couldn't go out for a night for a fair while. I could never share the night shifts with DH (then DP). I did feel uncomfortable doing it in public but actually never got any comments or even notice any nasty looks (a few surprised ones when people realise what you're doing but they had the good grace not to look upset about it).
So there you go, that's just my experience. It absolutely breaks my heart when mums beat themselves up for not breastfeeding or for having to stop.