Marydean, I think this is where it ties into best practice and best knowledge being used to compensate for births that override natural systems - a CS needn't be a BFing death knell if the risks are mitigated and as much can be done to jump-start the oxytocin production process.
Yes, it's confronting to realise that medical intervention carries such high risk of breastfeeding non-establishment. Once confronted, though, and you deal with the reality in front of you, you can navigate through the information better and play hard with the docs for what you need, if they're not already on it.
The type of birth you have, especially in our kind of modernised society, is going to carry inherent risks - it's not the knife, it's not the drugs in themselves (though they are heavily implicated on their own), it's the people who make it happen and who provide the care, or lack thereof. The 'system' that provides the medical interventions so often has no plan for breastfeeding establishment and retention, because they're so parochial about their turf - their turf is the birth and the first 6 weeks. After that they assume a professional from another medical fraternity will take over, I guess, like a paed (and we all know that they are all lactation experts...not!!).
It's no coincidence that 'continuity of care' models of maternity care are linked to better breastfeeding outcomes, long-term.
The net of accountability is long and wide, and the current Federal Health Minister isn't doing much to bring the net in - in fact, she's happy for the sharks to pick their bits while the rest of us flounder (the sharks being those who happily bill Medicare for every intervention they can offer and use - cynical, but true).
No matter how we birth, we all want the best for our kids and the rest of their lives - that's our agenda. Now, if only the hospitals could align their agendas accordingly.
It's so heartening to read of people's experiences with more progressive caregivers!