Police in Trois-Rivières, Que., are investigating after a 38-year-old woman allegedly abandoned her newborn in the city’s downtown streets, having given birth outside on New Year’s Day.

A passerby found the baby at the intersection of Royale and Bureau Streets in the afternoon of Jan. 1, according to Radio-Canada.

Paramedics arrived at the scene around 3:11 p.m where they found the passerby warming up the baby with items she had at her disposal.

“We had to act quick because after a birth, we have to keep the baby warm,” said Jérémy Lachance, the director of operations for the local ambulance service. “Coming out of the belly is already a shock for him so in conditions like those, we have to be able to keep him warm.”

Police located the mother a few streets away from where the baby was found, spokesperson Stéphanie Côté told CBC News. Realizing she had given birth outside, paramedics transported her to hospital due to concerns of hypothermia.

Karine Dahan, the executive director of Centre le Havre, a local shelter, told Radio-Canada’s Toujours le matin that she is familiar with the woman in question as she is known to homelessness services in Trois-Rivières.

Dahan says the situation is more nuanced than simple child abandonment.

Côté says the mother’s name is not being released to protect the baby’s identity.

“No matter the situation a person finds themselves in, police will intervene in a way to make sure they’re responding to their needs. Does she need help? That’ll be the first thing we check,” said Côté.

Côté says the baby was eventually transferred to the CHU Sainte-Justine children’s hospital in Montreal and is alive. Quebec’s youth protection service (DPJ) is also involved in the case, she says.

The woman is facing a charge of failing to provide the necessaries of life. She is due to appear at the Trois-Rivières courthouse for her bail hearing Tuesday.