An eight-year-old dog named La China reportedly saved the life of an abandoned baby girl by 'mothering' her with her puppies.

According to the La Nacion newspaper, farmer Fabio Anze discovered the naked girl being nursed by China together with her new puppies in the city of La Plata, 40 miles south of Buenos Aires.

Doctors pronounced the girl weighing 4kg or 8lb 13 oz, was out of harms way, except for only minor cuts and bruises. The baby was born only a few hours earlier, doctors say.

Local media dubbed the girl as "the miracle baby" with some describing her as "the Argentine Romulus and Remus," the founders of Rome abandoned as babies and rescued by a wolf almost 3000 years ago.

Police said the baby was born prematurely to a 14-year-old girl in the shanty town of La Plata. The girl reportedly panicked and abandoned the baby in a field, surrounded by wooden boxes and other trash.

China reportedly picked up the baby and carried her to her place alongside her puppies some 50 meters away.

The police had taken custody of the baby while deciding her future.