The number of maternity units declined from 406 in 2010 to 305 as of November 2025, the Health Ministry said in data presented in February to a parliamentary committee on patient rights.
Closures have accelerated in recent years. Twelve obstetrics and gynaecology wards were shut in 2020, 10 in 2021 and 11 in 2022. A further seven closed in 2023, 11 in 2024 and 27 in 2025. In January 2026 alone, three more units were closed and 12 suspended.
The drop in births has been steady, with 355,000 recorded in 2020 before falling to 238,000 last year.
Low birth numbers have undermined the financial viability of maternity wards. Hospitals are reimbursed per procedure, meaning they are paid for deliveries, while still bearing fixed staffing costs even when wards are underused. Average occupancy in maternity units stood at just under 60 percent in 2024. The National Health Fund pays around PLN 12,000 per birth, including neonatal care.
Experts say demographics are the primary driver. Bernadeta Skóbel of the Association of Polish Counties said local hospitals often maintain maternity wards despite losses when there is a need, but the current funding model favours highly specialised facilities.
Joanna Pietrusiewicz of the Rodzić po Ludzku Foundation said even top-rated maternity units are being shut because they cannot remain financially sustainable at current birth rates, adding that hospitals view reimbursement levels as insufficient.
Since February, the National Health Fund has introduced funding for so-called birth rooms in hospitals without maternity wards located more than 25 km from the nearest obstetrics unit. However, no hospital has yet decided to establish such facilities, according to industry reports.
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Source: PAP