A first time mother callously dumped her newborn daughter in a litter bin then went to work as normal because she didn’t want to lose her job, Brazilian police claim.

The baby girl was found wrapped in a pink blanket tucked inside a bag still attached to her umbilical cord on Monday evening by a local resident.

Witnesses heard the child crying outside their properties in a residential part of Uberaba, south east Brazil, and alerted emergency services, reports the Mirror.

Police arrested the 25-year-old woman at her workplace in the city after colleagues heard news of the abandoned baby and became suspicious the employee could have given birth because she appeared to have lost ‘a lot of weight off her belly’ overnight.

Apparently, the new mum, who works as a cleaner, had only been in the job at a car dealership for two months and had reportedly hidden her pregnancy from bosses for fear of losing the position.

‘A supervisor called us to say she had heard about the abandoned child and suspected a member of staff could be the mother,’ said detective Cyro Outeiro.

‘The manager claimed the employee had appeared pregnant when she first took up the job, but they had not questioned her about her condition.

‘She alleged the suspect started acting strangely while at work on Monday and asked to go home early after complaining of a stomach ache.

‘When colleagues saw her the following day, on Tuesday, the young woman no longer seemed to be pregnant because she had a smaller belly.’

It’s believed the suspect, who recently moved to the city from Maranhao in northeast Brazil, gave birth alone at her home in the bathroom.

Detectives said at first the suspect denied being the mother but later allegedly admitted the child was hers but she was ‘afraid of losing her job and needed the money’.

Forensic police are examining the house and bathroom as part of their investigations into the incident.

Security cameras in the suburban street, catches the heartbreaking moment the single mum appears to walk calmly along the deserted road carrying a package in her arms.

She disappears from view for a split second then reappears as she crosses the road and seems to head directly for the trash bin.

It looks like she dumps the package in the litter tray and after spending a few moments adjusting the contents, apparently walks away leaving her newborn daughter behind, without looking back.

The little girl who hasn’t been named, was full-term and weighed a healthy 7.9lbs (3.6kg).

She was taken to Triangulo Mineiro Federal University Clinical Hospital where she has been undergoing tests after being found dirty and at risk of infection.