A woman has been arrested following the death of her prematurely born baby in Mount Moriah, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal police said on Friday.

Police spokesperson Thulani Zwane said the 32-year-old woman was taken into custody on Wednesday.

She gave birth three months prematurely. Zwane said people heard the baby crying in a plastic bag on the road near the woman’s house.

“Police went to the scene and found the baby boy wrapped in a grey blanket. He was still alive and was taken to hospital.”

He died later in hospital.

The woman was expected to appear in the Verulam Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

SAPA