This paper seeks to identify the existing mechanisms and level of protection of imprisoned mothers in the Republic of Croatia. Its aims at examining the instruments for the protection of the relationship between an imprisoned mother and her child(ren) and the protection of their rights and best interests throughout the various stages of the criminal procedure, as well as the position of these women in the prison system, considering their gender-specific needs. Issues related to health care, work and training of women prisoners and contact with the outside world as well as the arguments and experience of foreign prison systems with regard to the decision to allow children to stay with their mothers in penal institutions are analyzed in the context of the 2006 European Prison Rules and the Bangkok Rules adopted in 2010. The paper also examines various non-custodial and other types of measures aimed, among other things, at protecting the relationship between the child and the imprisoned mother, facilitating their rehabilitation and reintegration into society, and providing them with psychological and social assistance. A legal mechanism has been put in place to mitigate the negative social and economic consequences of depriving convicted and imprisoned individuals of their right to family life, which also protects imprisoned mothers by defining legal institutions such as the possibility of amending the final verdict, house arrest, postponement or stay of execution of imprisonment, parole, etc. The protection of the institution of motherhood in prison set forth in Article 111 of the Prison Sentence Execution Act has been only partially provided considering that the need still exists to ensure that children of all imprisoned persons have equal rights irrespective of the formal and legal status of their parents as well as the need to ensure that sentenced and remand prisoners have the same rights to the extent that this does not put at risk the criminal proceedings.