Seville (Spain), Nov 15 (IANS/EFE): A Spanish woman accused of killing her newborn baby says the child was stillborn and she kept the body in the freezer in her home so she could keep it, sources linked to her family told EFE.

Sara L.H., 34, has been in jail since Monday in the southern town of Sanlucar la Mayor on a court order after being accused of murder in the death of her baby, which forensic officials said was born 17 months before being found in the freezer at the family home in the town of Pilas.

The woman appeared convinced that the child was born dead, because after the birth she saw it was not breathing, and she then put it in the freezer "because she didn't want to part with it", a friend of the family said.

The preliminary autopsy report delivered to the judge established that the child had been born alive, although the exact causes of its death have not yet been determined.

The accused, who is being held without bail, has two other children ages 11 and 14.

The woman's husband found the baby's body in the freezer last week while he was cleaning house, after which he called his brother, a firefighter, who rushed to the house with several of his colleagues.

The firefighters called police, who detained the mother at her workplace.