Melissa Drexler, now 20, pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter in August.

Judge John A. Ricciardi said Ms Drexler's actions were "explainable but not excusable."

Ms Drexler herself was tearful during the sentencing, and uttered only a one-sentence statement when asked to speak.

"I'd like to tell you I'm really, truly sorry for what I've done," she said.

She will be eligible for parole in three years under the terms of her plea agreement with prosecutors.

Secret pregnancy

Miriam Drexler's case has provoked widespread media coverage in the United States.

Ms Drexler was a New Jersey schoolgirl when she became pregnant, and she kept her condition concealed from everyone, including her boyfriend.

She had been attending the school prom when she went into labour, and gave birth in a toilet bowl.

She wrapped the baby in plastic bags and placed it in a rubbish bin before going back to the dance floor.

Maintenance workers who were called to clean up blood on the rest room floor discovered the baby's body.

Teens in denial

The case has highlighted the problem of abandoned babies in a country where there are more incidents of unwanted teenage pregnancy than anywhere else in the world.

Ms Drexler is seen as an example of a relatively common phenomenon - teenagers who go into a state of denial about their pregnancies, conceal them from everyone they know, and then abandon their babies.