Mears, that's a brilliant post.
I wish more was done antenatally with breastfeeding information - and not just a list of facts about the "benefits" of breastfeeding (I use the word benefit advisedly, since it's a loaded term with something that should be "the norm", I believe).
When I was pg with DS1, I was asked at my 13w booking appointment how I intended feeding my baby. I said, "With the placenta for some weeks yet, I think!", the midwife laughed, I said, "I'm going to breastfeed" and she said, "Good, lovely" and wrote down (or ticked, can't remember) breastfeeding.
Then at the NHS antenatal classes, a midwife went through breastfeeding, showing us positions with a doll (different one from the one with the knitted placenta attached - cue bemused MrHunker saying "Why has the baby got a parachute?" ). Not much was said about what normal breastfeeding was though - just nose to nipple, tummy to mummy, errrr, breastfeed a fair bit and your baby will errrr like it. Or something.
The next time anyone said anything to me about bfeeding was on the ward in the middle of the night when a midwife assistant grabbed hold of my boob and folded my nipple back on itself before shoving it into DS1's mouth - imagine folding your ear up to get it into a keyhole - it was about as effective. I said "Oh, yes, that's great, thanks" through gritted teeth, she left and I spent the next five weeks sobbing and steeling myself for feeds and stubbornly thinking "well, if nobody wants to help me, I will bloody well do it myself". Oh, and DH said, also in the middle of the night "Well, if it's making you feel that bad, give him a bloody bottle!"
I wish I'd had MN when I was bfeeding for the first time and known then what I know now.
It's very, very hard to talk about how much you enjoy bfeeding in RL, I think (and on here sometimes) - I often don't say as much as I'd like to in RL for fear of seeming smug (although if someone's having problems, I will always offer to help - I had a call the other day from a friend with early symptoms of mastitis).
I am sad and angry that not every woman who wants to bfeed is given the support and information to do so, and that so often it is other women who scupper her chances of doing this incredible thing. I am also sad that I feel I ought to downplay how utterly amazed I am at my body's ability to nourish my babies for a full half year (and possibly beyond - will see with DS2, who is in no hurry for food!) without any other form of food or fluid, in case I upset somebody who hasn't managed to bfeed.
I agree with Franny that those women who say "I didn't have enough milk" or some other myth to explain why they didn't bfeed don't help anybody - but then, they probably didn't have decent information, introduced formula early on, were told that a few bottles wouldn't hurt, had family who said, "Ooh, he's a whopper, you'll never feed a baby that big yourself", etc, etc.
I do wish it was seen as more socially acceptable to say "Actually, I don't want to breastfeed". But then I also wish it was socially acceptable to say "Oh, go on, give it a go - you can't know you won't like it unless you try"
And ScoobyDooooo... I am so glad I helped - and thank you for saying, it means a lot to me when people have posted to say I've helped them bfeed