This June, We're Running for Prems
There are things you witness as a bystander that stay with you long after the moment has passed.
For both of us - Daisy and Elle, the two people behind The Whole Bowl Co - one of those things is watching someone we love navigate the NICU. Not once, but multiple times, across our circles. Friends who became parents in the most unexpected and terrifying of ways. Babies who arrived before anyone was ready. Families whose entire world compressed into the space between a humidicrib and a hospital chair.
We've seen what it looks like when the call comes too early. The scramble to get to hospital. The blur of medical language and machines. The particular kind of exhaustion that comes from living in that NICU bubble - where every day is both urgent and suspended, where you learn to read monitors and celebrate grams, where you lose track of what day it is because every day is the same day, and it is the only day that matters.
We've seen friends drive hours to be closer to a hospital with the right equipment, away from their other children, away from their support networks, away from anything familiar. We've seen the financial strain that nobody talks about - because when your baby is in NICU, you're not working, you're not sleeping. For families who need to travel, who have other children at home, who are far from their support networks - the toll goes far beyond the hospital walls.
And we've seen - through the meal deliveries we send every single day at The Whole Bowl Co - just how many of our customers have lived this too. The gift messages tell us everything. "She's been in NICU for six weeks." "They finally got to bring him home yesterday." "She has no family nearby and hasn't slept in days." We read every one. We think about every one.
In Australia, more than 26,000 babies are born prematurely every year. Many of them rely on NICUs to survive. That's 1 in 10 babies. In major cities, 8.4% of babies are born prematurely. In very remote areas, that number rises to 13.5% - and those families often face the additional reality of being transported hundreds of kilometres from home to reach the nearest NICU, away from everything and everyone they know.
Behind every one of those numbers is a family living something they never planned for.
This is why, this June, The Whole Bowl Co is partnering with Running for Premature Babies - and why we couldn't be more proud to get behind it.
We're supporting Hannah, a women's health physiotherapist and someone we've had the privilege of knowing through our work. Hannah has built her career around being in the corner of women through some of the most significant physical and emotional chapters of their lives - pregnancy, birth, postpartum recovery, pelvic health, perimenopause and beyond. She is the kind of practitioner who doesn't just treat the body in front of her; she educates, advocates and walks alongside her patients through transitions that can feel overwhelming, isolating, and at times invisible to the rest of the world.
She knows, perhaps more than most, what it means to be a woman navigating the healthcare system at its most vulnerable moments. She knows the questions women are too tired or too afraid to ask. She knows how much it matters to feel truly seen and supported when your body is doing something you didn't plan for.
And then, earlier this year, Hannah found herself on the other side of that experience in a way no amount of professional training fully prepares you for. You can read Hannah's story here.
Hannah is now channelling that experience into something extraordinary. She is training for the Noosa Triathlon this October and fundraising for Running for Prems along the way - a cause that is deeply, personally close to her heart. We'll be cheering her on every step - and we hope you will too.
Running for Premature Babies was founded in 2007 by Sophie Smith OAM after she and her husband tragically lost their triplet sons, who were born extremely prematurely at just 24 weeks. Since then, the charity has raised over $12 million, funding life-saving neonatal equipment for hospitals across Australia, and more than 21,250 sick and premature babies have directly benefitted.
Here's how we're contributing this June:
**$1 from every order** placed in June will be tallied at the end of the month and transferred directly to Hannah's fundraising page. We'll share the receipt publicly so you can see exactly where it goes.
**A $2 donation add-on** is available at checkout for anyone who wants to give a little more directly.
If you've ever been through a NICU journey yourself, or loved someone who has - this one's for you. And if you'd like to donate directly to Hannah's fundraising page right now, the link is below.
Every dollar funds equipment. Every piece of equipment is a chance. And every chance is everything.
Donate to Hannah's Running for Prems page →
