A helpless baby boy has been pulled out alive from a shallow grave up to three days after he was left to die by his South African mother, Daily Mail UK reports.

The baby was discovered in the town of Paddock, in KwaZulu-Natal Province, eastern South Africa after staff at the timber factory where his mother worked heard him crying.

The 25-year-old mother had made a makeshift grave of sand and timber taken from the factory after fearing her parents would be upset about her having a second child.

When the baby was found she admitted to police what she had done.

Captain Gerald Mfeka said: 'They searched and found him hidden underneath some timber, covered in sand.

'On hearing the commotion, the mother confessed that the child was hers. Her explanation was that she was afraid of her parents.

'This was her second child, the elder one being four years old, and she felt her parents would not approve of another baby.'

The baby was placed in an intensive care unit at the nearby Port Shepstone Regional Hospital.

His mother was reportedly also taken there, though it was not clear why.

She was released from the hospital and it was not reported what charges she faces or whether she will be reunited with her baby.