I believe unless a woman starts at birth breastfeeding , their breasts dry up and they can't go back.
Actually, there is about a week where a woman can start after giving birth.
The first few days is colostrum, which is EXCELLENT for the baby. Then it changes over to milk and the milk comes in whether you nurse from the moment of birth or not.
With one of my roommates after giving birth, she was planning on going back to work in a few weeks so decided to not even try, just went straight to formula. Her milk came in anyways and she was in agony. I always thought she’d have had a much easier time of it if she had nursed for a few weeks then switched over to formula and gradually dried herself off.
Milk production is based on demand. At the very least, you can switch over to formula and then pump just enough to relieve the pressure. You’ll dry up quick enough that way.