More American babies are surviving, even after difficult births, and they probably will live longer, with Americans' average life expectancy now standing at an all-time high of 76 1/2 years, according to new government statistics.

In a study published Tuesday in the journal Pediatrics, statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that U.S. infant mortality rates have reached their lowest level in history.In addition, teen pregnancies, as measured by the number of live births, fell 3 percent, continuing a downward trend that started six years ago.

"All of the trends are positive," said Dr. Bernard Guyer of the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, who analyzed the government data for Pediatrics. "They are all going in the right direction."

The 1997 infant mortality rate, which measures the number of deaths between birth and the age of 1, was 7.1 per 1,000 births. That was about 3 percent lower than the 1996 rate of 7.3 deaths per 1,000 live births.

The drop in infant deaths came despite a 7.5 percent increase in the number of low birthweight babies and an increase of about 2 percent in the number of births by women late in their childbearing years. Pregnancy and birth complications are more common among older women.

There also was a sharp rise in multiple births, another medical complication that affects infant mortality. Guyer said the number of twins rose by 5 percent, while the number of "higher order multiple births" -- triplets or more -- increased by 20 percent.

That increase has come about because more women are using fertility drugs.

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The number of years a person born in the United States can expect to live increased, in part because of falling death rates from major diseases and from accidents, homicides and suicides. Deaths from HIV, or AIDS, for instance, dropped by 47 percent in 1997.

A longer life expectancy, said Guyer, "reflects improvement at both ends of the life spectrum. The fact that infant mortality is down means that babies born this year are going to have a longer life expectancy. At the other end, we are able to prolong life longer and the aged are healthier."

The most dramatic improvement was among black males, whose life expectancy increased by 1.2 years to 67.3 years. For black females, it improved to 74.7 years, an increase of half a year.

For white females, life expectancy rose to 79.3 years, up one-tenth of a year. And for white males, it is now 74.3, an improvement of four-tenths of a year.

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