The 38-year-old woman was reported to have been living in a tent with her husband on a street close to the Jardin du Luxembourg in the south of the capital.

Her baby, a girl, was born just metres away from two of the city’s largest hospitals. 

Daily newspaper Libération reported that pressure group Morts de la Rue (Deaths on the Street) held budget cuts responsible.

The group blamed “reductions in spending that can only create situations like this.”

“We want to express our anger regarding the government who no longer seem able to protect the poorest,” they said.

Politicians were quick to give reactions to the news. 

“A baby dead in the street just a few steps from a maternity hospital #sadness #incomprehension,” tweeted government spokeswoman and budget minister Valérie Pécresse.

The partner of Socialist presidential candidate François Hollande also used her Twitter account to comment.

“The fact that a woman gives birth in the street and her baby dies outrages me,” wrote Valérie Trierweiler.

The Morts de la Rue association has estimated that 280 people have died living on the streets since the start of the year.

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