NEW YORK, USA (AP) — A woman stabbed five people — including three newborn babies — early yesterday inside a New York City home that was apparently being used as a neighbourhood nursery, and then slashed her own wrist, police said.

All of those wounded in the attack, which happened before 4:00 am, were hospitalised but expected to survive. The 52-year-old suspect was in police custody.

No immediate charges were filed, and police said the motive was under investigation.

Investigators were trying to piece together what happened inside the building, a three-story, multifamily townhouse in a neighbourhood popular with Chinese immigrants in the Flushing section of Queens. Among the questions was whether the place was operating as an unlicensed child care facility.

Police responding to a 911 call discovered a three-day-old girl and a one-month-old girl who had been stabbed in the abdomen, and a 20-day-old girl with cuts to her ear, chin and lip. The father of one of the children and a woman who worked there were also stabbed, police said.

A butcher knife and meat cleaver were found at the scene.

The woman suspected in the attack was discovered bleeding and unconscious in the basement, and after officers applied a tourniquet, she regained consciousness and was taken to the hospital, police said.

State records indicate that a business called Mei Xin Care Inc was registered at the address, but there was no listed phone number for that company.