From a historical perspective, however, this is a recent turn of events. Advances in medicine, hygiene and technology have made infant death an anomaly rather than the commonplace event it was until recently, in the mid-20th century (Singh, 2010). These facts do little to ease these parents' grief, but interventions based on a life course perspective may be helpful. Unlike other, more linear theories, the life course perspective places less emphasis on a direct progression of significant events; rather, the focus is on the content and timing of events during the family's life (Bengston & Allen, 2009). Although the life course perspective places some emphasis on the role that chronological time plays in the life cycle, it does not emphasize uniformity of developmental stages. This allows individuals to construct their own meaning of events in their lives. Nor does it exclude the usefulness of other social science disciplines; The life course perspective integrates and recognizes the importance of a variety of fields: psychology, sociology, economics, and history, to name a few. (Bengston and Allen, 2009). Perhaps this less rigid view will help these grieving parents feel that they have done nothing.