I'm going to stick to my field of expertise. I'm a pediatrician and a specialist in neonatal intensive care. That means that my view of things is biased, because all I ever see are the cases when things did not go well. I think it's more of a question for obstetricians.
I know that, by definition, pregnancy is not an illness. If the number of perinatal deaths has declined considerably, it's because of care. Of course, care is not only provided in university hospitals, but the situation could nevertheless be improved. There are many countries where the experience of childbirth with midwives is well documented.