When home is a hospital ward and mother is replaced by a nurse, life is mostly about waiting – adoption, a foster family, or at least finding a guardian. Abandoned children in hospitals are a problem that is becoming more and more visible, but there is no better solution.
He's already greeting the world, even though he doesn't have a name yet. A girl who was born on Christmas Eve in a hospital in Szczecin had drugs in her blood. His mother did not have any medical documents about the pregnancy. Therefore – after the court's decision – the child remained in the hospital.
– Foster families are overcrowded and there is no room for them, they are admitted to the hospital, where we cannot provide them with proper care during this period of development, – says Dr. Agata Jankowska, a neonatologist at the University's Neonatal Pathology Clinic. Clinical Hospital of the Medical University of Warsaw in Szczecin.
Dr. Jankowska says “they” because a newborn girl who is only a few days old and cannot rely on her biological family is no exception. Currently, 7 children are waiting for a new home in Szczecin University Hospital alone.
– Our oldest patient, who is waiting for a foster family, is now more than four months old, – says Agata Jankowska.
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Ministry of Health: the number of children abandoned in hospitals after birth is increasing
And the needs of children in hospitals are the same as anywhere else.
– The hands that hug and caress the baby are the most desired among such children, – says Viktoria Laskowska, a midwife at the Neonatal Pathology Clinic of the University Clinical Hospital of the Medical University of Warsaw in Szczecin.
And although midwives, nurses and doctors do their best, they cannot replace a loving family. Meanwhile, according to the Ministry of Health, in recent years, the number of children hospitalized immediately after birth has been increasing.
Experts on the “best for the child” decision
A child who remains in the hospital is cared for and has the option of being adopted as soon as possible. As Marek Michalak, the former Ombudsman for Children, points out, the increase in the number of children in hospitals, contrary to appearances, has its positive aspects.
– It should be said that they did not abandon this child, they did not use violence against this child. They made a difficult decision for themselves, but at the same time the best for the child – says Marek Michalak, former Ombudsman for Children.
Because if a woman decides not to raise a child, putting it in a safe place is the only right way. – The positive thing is that the number of children who are thrown into the trash in plastic bags is decreasing, – says psychologist Dr. Aleksandra Piotrovska.
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And in such a situation, theoretically, hospital procedures can work faster for the child, for example, if there is a window of life left. But in practice, children can wait months to have their situation resolved, and there is still a shortage of foster families.
– In many big cities, despite the court's decision, the waiting time for placement of a child is very long, – notes Magdalena Skwarek from the Association of Polish Family Assistants.
And children don't have to wait. Nowhere. Even more so in hospital wards.
– No institution provides this “vitamin M” to the extent that it is received among kind people, – notes Marek Michalak. And the task of adults is to provide this specific vitamin as soon as possible.
