An incredible photograph that captures the moment a baby grabs hold of a doctor's finger just as she emerges from her mother's womb has become the first viral picture of 2013 after it was posted on Facebook.

In the photograph, Nevaeh Atkins is seen grasping Dr. Allan Sawyer's hand just before her birth via Caesarean section.

Alicia Atkins of Glendale, Arizona had given birth to her daughter on October 9, and her husband Randy had managed to snap a picture of his baby daughter entering the world for the first time firmly gripping hold of Dr. Sawyer's finger.

"The doctor called me over and said, 'Hey, she's grabbing my finger,'" Randy told 3TV News. "So I ran over there and just grabbed the shot and I was just in awe looking at it. It was such an amazing picture."

Alicia, a professional photographer who owns A Classic Pin-Up photo studio, decided to post the heartwarming photograph of her daughter on her company Facebook page for her family and friends to see.

"This was 10 weeks ago when I was having my c-section and Dr. Sawyer broke my water and my daughter reached up out of my stomach and grabbed the Dr.'s finger and my hubby caught this special moment," she wrote in the caption of the photograph.

"Truly amazing. I am in awe of this photo," she wrote. "Something to remember forever."

The photograph has already received over 3,600 likes, more than 1,700 shares and 460 comments.

"We didn't think we were going to get such positive feedback. We thought we would get more negative 'that's disgusting,'" Alicia told KTVK. "[Instead] everybody just thought it was the best thing in the world."