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[For instance, there is a direct link between infant mortality and premature birth. Clearly the more premature an infant is when he is born, the greater likelihood of complications. In fact, according to the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services National Center for Health Statistics, complications stemming from short gestation and low birth weight are the second leading causes of infant mortality in the United States. Ironically, the advanced medical technologies used in the United States tend to increase our infant mortality rate, not decrease it. In the United States, advanced technologies and procedures have made it more practical in recent years for medical professionals to attempt to save severely premature infants. Such attempts do not always succeed, adding to the rate of infant mortality.] Resuscitation is more likely to be attempted on extremely premature babies born in the United States than in many other countries, ... The extremely premature babies on whom resuscitation is unsuccessful are then counted as infant deaths, whereas they are counted as fetal deaths when resuscitation has not been attempted.
