A woman charged with murder after the remains of eight babies were found last year at her home in southern Germany has admitted killing several infants.

The 45-year-old mother, identified only as Andrea G, is charged with four counts of murder in the trial at the Coburg state court.

Her 55-year-old husband, Johann G, is charged with being an accessory to murder.

Prosecutors said they could not establish whether the four other infants were actually born alive, so the indictment does not cover those cases.

The mother told the court via her lawyer that she had wrapped the eight newborns in towels and hidden them, regardless of whether they showed signs of life, news agency dpa reported.

In her statement, she said that her husband and her mother had pushed for her to be sterilised, but she did not comply. Her husband did not want any more children, she said.

The couple have three living children, and each has another two from previous marriages.

The defendant said that, when she told her husband in 2003 that she was pregnant again, he had been furious and demanded an abortion.

The woman claims she then repressed thoughts of the pregnancy and was surprised by the birth - a pattern that was repeated during the subsequent seven pregnancies, according to her lawyer.

She was not sure how many of the babies were born alive.

The bodies were left in a sauna that was used for storage, the court heard.

There are no formal pleas in German trials, and the husband did not respond to the charges.