A 27-year-old Quebec woman has been charged with the first-degree murders of three newborn babies.

The investigation began on Oct. 15 when the woman went to hospital and staff realized she had recently given birth but there was no sign of an infant.

The woman apparently could not provide any details about the birth, or the whereabouts of the child.

Local police then searched the woman’s home and discovered the bodies of the three children. They called the Sureté du Quebec which determined that one body was just a few days old, while the other remains dated to at least 2014.

The woman, from Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-lac on the North Shore, was arrested Wednesday by the SQ.

In court on Thursday she was charged with three counts of first-degree murder, of disposing of human remains in order to conceal their deaths, for not providing the basic necessities of life, and of corrupting the morals of a child.

That older child, who was living with the woman, has since been taken into custody by Youth Protection Services, and is the reason the court ordered a ban on the publication of any information that could identify the woman.

The woman did not enter a plea and appeared extremely frail, looking down as the charges were entered.

What happened during the pregnancies is a mystery. The woman has a spouse who is not facing any charges.

One neighbour who spoke to CTV said he was certain the woman was pregnant at some point in the past.

"She had a nice little bump. For me I was sure she was pregnant, it's what I thought that she was pregnant, but I was not able to say for when," said Pierre McLaughlin.

The woman is due back in court in December.