Baby grabs doctor's hand during Caesarean-section birth

A photograph taken by a father in the US state of Arizona of his daughter's C-section birth has become an internet sensation.

Fifteen seconds before Randy Atkins' daughter Nevaeh was born on 9 October 2012, he snapped a picture of something that even the doctor who delivered her has never seen before.

The photograph shows the baby's hand reaching out while she is still in the womb and grabbing the doctor's finger.

Mr Atkins and his wife Alicia posted the picture on Facebook just before Christmas and it has since gone viral.

Mrs Atkins, who is herself a professional photographer, had the picture printed on canvas and gave a copy to gynaecologist Dr. Allan Sawyer, who delivered her daughter.

Dr. Sawyer said the photograph showed something "really rare."

He said he usually sees the baby's head appear first.

According to Facebook's statistics, Mrs Atkins' page was seen by more than 36,000 people in just one week since the photo was released.