Stay at home mother or a working mother?

I recently came across a discussion about should a woman sacrifice her career for taking care of her children? Views both in favor as well as against the question were expressed. Both views were correct in a sense that it depends from person to person. Some women grudge the fact that they had to sacrifice their career and identity to raise their children and now those children don't respect them anymore.
It made me wonder is it better for a woman to leave her children behind and go back to work, is it okay to pursue career while the child is being taken care of by a nanny? Well, when I look around in my family and friends, I see both kind of mothers. My own mother was a working woman and during my childhood I used to dislike her leaving me to go and work. My aunts were all stay at home mothers and those who worked, did only after their children had grown up, or did part time jobs. All my friends had stay at home mothers. My sister, a dentist, left her job to raise her kids. In all these women I never saw a weakling but they all were inspiration for their children. I never saw a child not respecting his mother just because she was not a career woman. In fact I saw children asking their mothers' advice every now and them. My grandmother who never went to school was a role model to everyone who knew her.
I don't know what choice I will make in the future. Though I do want to work and study some more but right now I am raising my four month old, future still lies untold.