A few years ago, I worked with a guy whose wife did a home birth with a midwife. Something gross happened (that I won't describe) in the birthing and his child ended up mentally retarded.
The same exact thing happend to a woman I work with now, but she was in the hospital. They rushed her newborn away and took care of him and he's a healthy 3 year old now. There's something to be said for modern technology.