RE: And the judgement rained down with the tears
The only thing stranger than you writing about breastfeeding is me reading about breastfeeding. Putting humor aside, this article was firstly about about parenting and the necessary sacrifices involved in it, and secondly, it was about the ugly side of human nature; the busy-bodies who feel compelled to offer their unasked for opinions, and the insensitive cruelty and self-righteousness that seems to be epidemic.
My wife breast fed our three children, but back when they were born in California (1979 to 1985), having babies at home with a midwife was all the rage. My wife endured incredible pressure to go the home-birth route from other women. The comments were incredible. We were just kids at the time, 20 and 21, but we knew enough to opt for a very comfortable birthing room in a hospital. As fate would have it my wife wouldn't dilate, and was completely exhausted and tapped out after 36 hours of labor. Our first-born was removed with forceps. If she had succumbed to the pressure for a home birth the consequences could have been tragic.
Home birth is not allowed in Finland (legally) for first children, no midwife will perform it as the risk is too high. One thing in Finland is that they really do a pretty decent job of baby healthcare. A benefit of high taxes. The birth of ours is another story altogether and suction was required (new forceps?) and the recovery is still ongoing a year and a half later.
Essentially, people know what they know and believe what they know to be correct whilst rarely doing the research required to check.