Nevaeh Atkins was going to be born soon enough. She just wanted a helping hand, evidently.She got one from her doctor, as seen in a photo snapped Oct. 9 by her father just before her birth via C-section.In the photo, Nevaeh grips Dr. Allan Sawyer’s hand even before emerging from her mother’s womb.

In the photo, Nevaeh grips Dr. Allan Sawyer’s hand even before emerging from her mother’s womb.

“I just thought right away that it was a beautiful, amazing photo that I had never seen before,” Nevaeh’s mother, Alicia Atkins, told ABCNews.com. “I knew it was special right away.

“When my doctor broke my water, the doctor told my husband, ‘Hey, she’s holding my finger,’” Atkins said. ”He had my camera, and so they were able to capture the moment of her holding his hand.”

The Phoenix-area mom first saw the photo Oct. 10, but she had her assessment of its specialness affirmed after she posted it Dec. 26 on the Facebook page of her Glendale, Ariz., photography company, A Classic Pin-Up, and drew the attention of ABC News affiliate KNXV-TV and other local media.