Mum of newborn found covered in ants 'didn't want to be mother'

A mother accused of dumping her baby girl in a bush told prosecutors she didn't want to be a mother and doesn't want to see her child.

Sidney Woytasczyk, 21, is charged with child abandonment after abandoning her newborn in a flowerbed near her Houston apartment.

Prosecutors say she gave birth to the child in her kitchen, cut the cord and left it exposed to the elements in a flowerbed to stop her oblivious boyfriend from being scared away, according to ABC 13.

She was arrested arrested a passerby spotted the baby, covered in ants and called the cops.

The couple, who have been together for at least a year, said they didn't realize Woytasczyk was pregnant (they are pictured together here in 2016)

During the 21-year-old's second court appearance, at Harris County, on Wednesday she told investigators she did not want to be a mother and did not want to see her baby.

The infant is currently in the ICU and being treated for a bacterial infection after Woytasczyk ripped the placenta in two. The little girl could be at risk of developing meningitis.

Woytasczyk later told police she had panicked after giving birth because she didn't know she was pregnant.

Prosecutors claimed that Woytasczyk felt the baby girl turn in her womb before it dropped out onto the kitchen floor.

They said she admitted to cutting the child's umbilical cord, then abandoning it naked to the elements.

"She described the delivery,' the prosecutor told the judge, according to Click2Houston. "The officer asked if she had a boy or a girl and she stated, "A girl."

"The defendant stated she went outside without wrapping it. She did cut the cord."

But the cord was not clamped and tied, putting the child at risk of bleeding to death and leading to her developing a bacterial infection, authorities allege.

The baby was also suffering a rapid heart rate, and is now said to be in good condition at the neonatal ICU at Texas Children's Hospital.

They said Woytasczyk then went home, cleaned up and went to sleep.

She has now been charged with a felony charge of abandoning a child and causing serious bodily injury and, if found guilty, could receive up to 20 years in prison.

Prosecutors also said she had expressed concerns about how having a child might affect her relationship with boyfriend Deandre Skillern.

Skillern, who told a court last week that he didn't know Woytasczyk was pregnant, has not been charged in connection with the case.

He has now taken a DNA test to prove he is the father, and is contesting Woytasczyki's mother for custody of the child.

Custody will be decided by a judge; in the meantime, the infant is with Child Protection Services.

Prosecutors asked for bail to be set at $40,000; Woytasczyki's lawyer asked for it to be considerably lower, saying that she is a student who works retail and lives with her mum.