A newborn baby found abandoned in a chest of drawers discarded down an alleyway has been rescued by paramedics.

A member of the public found the baby tucked inside the piece of furniture, which had been thrown away in Chicago's Montclare neighbourhood in the US.

The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said the little one was wrapped in rosary beads and had a mouth full of vomit.

Officials said the baby was less than a week old.

The rescuer said the chest of drawers caught her eye as she walked along the block, ABC7 Chicago reported.

She told reporters she had originally planned to remove the handles to reuse them.

When she opened the drawer, she found the baby laying there.

"I put my finger on the little foot, to just to see he was moving," she told NBC Chicago.

The unidentified woman remained on the scene until emergency services arrived and took him to Lurie Children's Hospital.

He is in a good condition, a spokesman for the Chicago Fire Department said.

Spokesman Larry Langford said it was lucky someone walked past the dresser and found the baby, considering the high temperatures in the city today, which have been exceeding 30C.

"It's a good thing somebody came by. It's hot out there, it could've ended differently, but it's all seemingly worked out," he told the Chicago Tribune.

Karie James, a Chicago Police Department spokeswoman, said in an email that police were investigating.

Under Illinois' "Safe Haven" law, enacted in 2001, a parent can safely relinquish an infant 30 days old or younger to a hospital, police station, fire station, or emergency medical facility and leave the infant with personnel of the facility without fear of legal repercussions.

Candy Pittner, who lives in the area where the newborn was found, told WLS-TV she's outraged someone would just leave an infant out with the trash when there are so many safe places a child can be dropped off.

"You could have even rang my doorbell, I would have taken the baby and left. Anything but leaving it in that drawer," Pittner said.