Introduction:
The number of children in foster care has been continuously growing. The waiting time for a foster family varies from weeks to months. One of the main factors causing prolongation of the process is the inadequate number of foster families.

Aim:
The aim of this study is to outline the problem of prolonged hospitalizations of newborns awaiting foster care placement

Material and methods:
We performed a retrospective analysis of medical and social data of newborns hospitalized in the Department of Neonatal Diseases of the Independent Public Clinical Hospital No. 2 in Szczecin. No ethics committee approval was required due to the retrospective and anonymized nature of the data.

Results and discussion:
Out of the 130 newborns requiring intervention, 61.5% were placed in foster care and 35.4% returned to their biological mothers. Nearly half were born preterm (46.2%), and over 60% of mothers did not receive adequate prenatal care. Substance use was noted during pregnancy in 51.5% of cases. In 2023, average hospital stay extended to 63,4 days. Legal delays, contributed to prolonged, non – medically indicated hospital stays.

Conclusions:
The Polish system requires hospitals to take responsibility for newborns until placement in foster care is available. There is a lack of additional institutions that can adequately care for children. Hospitals cannot be places for newborns to await for their legal status to be regulated and are unable to provide children with proper development and care during the neonatal period. Introduction of systemic changes is necessary to give newborn children a chance for development in a functional family.