A 20-YEAR-OLD mother, Sibonakele Ngwenya of KwaDabeka outside Durban, was all smiles after being reunited with her one-week-old infant, Primrose, yesterday.

Primrose went missing after she was stolen by a woman pretending to be a nurse at the KwaDabeka Clinic on Monday.

Ngwenya had taken her child to the clinic for a check-up when a friendly "nurse" offered to help her speed up the process.

Speaking to Sowetan from her home yesterday Ngwenya said: "I could not believe it when the police phoned me and said I had to come to the station. I was even more excited when I saw my child for the first time in days.

"I could not stop crying and cuddling her.

"I missed her so much. It was as if a part of me had been taken away.

"I am grateful to the police for working hard to return my child safe and sound."

KwaDabeka police spokesperson Captain Bongani Khomo said the police pounced on the 29-year-old "nurse" at her home in the Khwela area of KwaDabeka.

"She was arrested and the baby was found in good health," Khomo said.

Khomo said the woman was desperate. She told the police she had been married before but could not bear children. As a result she had to face many problems and frustrations.

She was in a new relationship and did not want the issue of being barren to keep on frustrating her.

She is expected to appear in court today.