Police deploy divers and dog in search for mother and baby after evidence of birth found on Sydney riverbank

Officers urge woman to go to hospital to receive care after placenta and umbilical cord found next to Cooks River at Earlwood

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Police have deployed divers and a blood detection dog in the search for a mother and her newborn baby after finding evidence she may have given birth by a Sydney riverbank.

A resident walking his dog found what police believe to be a placenta and umbilical cord next to the Cooks River at Earlwood in the city's south-west on Monday afternoon. Police said tests on the organs had revealed them to be human.

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