A policewoman saves the life of an abandoned newborn girl by breastfeeding her.

A little girl left to die in the woods just hours after her birth has been saved by a policewoman who breastfed the baby until paramedics arrived.

Doctors say the abandoned newborn, who still had part of her umbilical cord attached, would have starved or succumbed to hypothermia if not for the selfless actions of new mum and police officer Luisa Urrea.

After being praised as a hero, Ms Urrea played down her actions, saying: “I’m a new mother and I have milk and I recognised the needs that this poor little creature had.”

“I think any woman would have given her nourishment in the same circumstances.”

The baby was discovered by locals in the undergrowth of a remote forest of a west Columbian village, The Mirror reports.

“I was collecting some oranges when I heard something crying,” 59-year-old Edinora Jimenez said.

“I thought it was a cat until I looked closer and saw that it was a baby girl.”

Ms Urrea was called to the scene and breastfed the hungry baby girl until emergency service workers arrived.

Authorities say the girl was suffering from hypothermia and had several lacerations, but was now in good health.

The Colombian Institute of Family Welfare are caring for the infant until an adoptive home can be found.

If located, the baby’s birth mother could face charges of attempted murder.