Johannesburg – A 19-year-old woman has been arrested after she tried to steal a baby at a hospital in Mpumalanga over the weekend, the provincial health department said on Sunday.

Spokesperson Dumisani Malamule said the woman had pretended to be pregnant and in labour, before trying to steal the baby in the maternity ward at the Tonga Hospital.

Security guards at the hospital acted swiftly and caught the woman around 02:00 on Sunday.

Malamule said the woman had tried to hide the newborn baby in her bag.

Police were called to the scene and she was arrested.