Emergency services were called to the banks of the Cooks River in Earlwood, southwest Sydney , at about 4.30pm on Monday after a passerby walking a dog spotted a placenta and an umbilical cord.

In short: Police are searching for a mother and a newborn baby after a placenta and an umbilical cord were found on the banks of the Cooks River in Sydney late on Monday afternoon. Police say the ...

Local resident Tony Robson found the body parts hidden in shrubs on the Cooks River in Earlwood, Sydney's inner south-west, about 4.30pm on Monday, while he was walking his dogs.

The discovery of an umbilical cord and placenta in muddy mangroves near an Australian river has sparked a major police search for a mother and baby amid fears for their health.

Police searching the Cooks River on Tuesday morning. Credit: Janie Barrett / SMH Police were bringing in lights to “conduct a large-scale search” of the area overnight, McDonald said.

Cooks River starts in Chullora and wends 23 kilometres to Botany Bay. Over the years it has been the subject of controversy as each generation tried to improve it.