I think the three basic positions are recommended is in the beginning when both mother and baby are learning, and getting a good latch is important, and giving options for good positioning and latch with those positions is laying a good foundation. But once you've both got the hang of it, there is a lot of variation, and I think each nursing couple figures out what works for them.
Breastfeeding my first child, I tended to get a little hung up on the fact that I wasn't doing it "right"--I was leaning over, I was hunched, my hands were falling asleep, etc. But I think examining some of the problems with the position were what made me find more things to aid me, like trying out different chairs, using a footstool, different pillows, a rolled up blanket, etc. I actually felt a little put out by it all, sometimes, thinking I must not be doing things right to have to use all these things, but once I got over that, and once I realized that breastfeeding could be easy and comfortable, it was a whole new ball game. At that point I could nurse in all sorts of positions and it was just amusing to me the contortions that arose. If things changed a little, like with teething or illness or what have you, and I started to have breast and nipple pain, coming back to the basics was the first step in fixing things.
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