Baby found alone and eating leaves by side of road.

A Gold Coast baby girl has been found alone and eating leaves outside the front of a church, Queensland police have reported.

The one-year-old was found outside the Uniting Church in Elanora on the Gold Coast at around 3.20pm on Friday, and police report she was found dehydrated, with cut above her eye and was wearing only a nappy.

Watch: News reports of the incident. (Post continues after video.)

The Uniting Church in Elanora is alarmingly close to a busy highway where the baby was found, with Gold Coast police district duty officer Senior-Sergeant Chris Tritton telling the Courier-Mail the situation was quite distressing.

“It is alarming what could potentially have happened … but thankfully a lovely family was passing and found the child and stayed with it until police could arrive,” he said.

Queensland police reported in a statement that the baby’s mother was later found in the vicinity of where the girl was found.