re: Are we better off? A resounding yes
I completely agree, Steve. Though not quite so dramatic, my younger daughter's life (or mind) was saved by an emergency C-section just over 18 years ago. A fetal monitor picked up the problem before it became too severe.
For all the problems of modern medicine (and there are many!) we are still far better off than our ancestors, even those of the mid-twentieth century. I think a lot of current health problems are more social issues than medical.