German police arrest a woman after the bodies of three babies are found in
a home freezer.

WENDEN, GERMANY (MAY 5, 2008) REUTERS -

Police in Germany have arrested a woman after the bodies of three
babies were discovered in a freezer in a house in Wenden on Sunday (May 4)
evening. The babies are thought to have been born seperately and to have died
shortly after birth.
    Police said the bodies were discovered by the son of the household, who
together with his older sister went to the freezer looking for pizzas while
the parents were out. They then talked their parents into going to the police.
The house was sealed off as police began their investigations by questioning
other family members and local residents.
    Police said the mother has given a statement in which she confirmed
that the newborn babies were her children and that she had put them in the
freezer. The woman is reported to be in shock and is currently being treated
by doctors.
    Investigators also said that the babies had probably been in the
freezer for many years.
    "What we can say about when the crime happened is that one of the
babies was wrapped in a newspaper which dated back to December 1988 so that we
are assuming that the possible crime took place around this time," head
of the investigations  Herbert Fingerhut told a news conference in Olpe.
    A wave of infanticides by young German mothers, many of them from poor
eastern regions, has shocked the country and prompted political debate.
    In one particularly gruesome case, a woman in the eastern town of
Brieskow-Finkenheerd was sentenced to 15 years in prison for killing eight of
her babies and burying some of them in flower pots, buckets and fish tanks on
her property.
    In an attempt to save lives, some clinics in Germany have installed
hatches where desperate mothers can leave unwanted babies anonymously.