A Singaporean woman believed to be the mother of the baby boy abandoned last month in a Bedok North rubbish chute bin was charged in court yesterday.

The 26-year-old, whose identity cannot be revealed because of a gag order to protect the baby's identity, was charged with exposure and abandonment of a child under 12 years old.

This charge, which refers to the leaving of a child in any place with the intention of wholly abandoning the child, carries with it a jail term of up to seven years, a fine, or both.

The woman will be remanded at the Institute of Mental Health for psychiatric observation. The case is set to return to court on Feb 28.

On Jan 7, two town council cleaners at Block 543 Bedok North Street 3 were collecting rubbish when they heard crying coming from one of the bins at the chute.

They were shocked to find a baby in a wet and bloody supermarket plastic bag.

The police said yesterday that they arrested the woman on Thursday after looking through images from police cameras and closed-circuit television footage provided by residents and businesses in the neighbourhood.

Residents earlier said the police went to every floor of the block to ask questions and also asked owners of vehicles at the open-air carpark near the block for footage from their in-car cameras.

The police are still looking into the identity of the child's father.